Just Might Tell You
by Linz005
Summary: AU, Dillon is turning 21 and couldn't be more confused. His father has contacted him and the Quartermaines are vying for his allegiance. On top of that he has certain feelings for a certain Jones who is surprisingly not Georgie. Dillon/Lucas
1. Chapter 1

Title: Just Might Tell You

Author: Lindsay

Pairing: Dillon/Lucas (slash)

Summary: AU, Dillon is turning 21 and couldn't be more confused. Paul Hornsby has contacted him for the first time since he was a baby and the Quartermaines are all vying for his allegiance now that he has control of his trust fund and stock. As if all of that wasn't enough, he suddenly finding himself with feelings for another Jones, only this one is definitely not Georgie. Dillon/Lucas

Rating: Teen (may go up in the future).

A/N: Currently a WIP that may or may not be continued depending on interest and what not. So please Read and review if you'd like to see more.

* * *

Dillon was glad that Georgie wasn't working at Kelly's at the moment. He didn't want her to see him moping around. They were friends once more even though their romantic relationship no longer existed. Dillon knew that as much as he had loved her, on some level they made better friends. But he also knew that Georgie was still struggling with everything that happened and he didn't want to give either of them an excuse to stir up old feelings. Pouring his heart out to her wasn't going to do anyone any good. What would be even worse is if he took his current bad mood out on her. There friendship had been through enough. No reason to strain it further.

"You look pretty pissed off about something, Quartermaine." Lucas Jones commented. Dillon rolled his eyes. He hadn't realized another Jones was working. He and Lucas got along a lot better now than they had, but they were mostly friends because they had so many friends in common like Georgie and Brook Lynn.

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it." Dillon said wearily.

"Oook..." Lucas replied. "What can I get you then?" He asked pulling out a pad to write his order down on.

"Burger, fries, the usual..." Dillon said with a shrug. Lucas scribbled the order down and placed it in line with a few others for the kitchen staff.

"Is this about my cousin?" Lucas asked curiously. "I know Georgie is seeing someone." He referred to Georgie's very new, but growing relationship with Spinelli, an attraction he understood even less than her interest in Dillon—at least from an aesthetic point of view Dillon had always made obvious sense.

"Oh yeah, no, not about that. Though, that Spinelli kid is a weird one. What's with the way he talks?" Dillon wondered. "It's bizarre and this is coming from someone who regularly talks in film metaphors."

"If it's not about Georgie, what is it about?"

"This doesn't sound like not talking about it." Dillon pointed out. "Where's Guy? I haven't seen him in like two weeks since finals."

"I don't want to talk about it." Lucas parroted.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Lucas didn't answer and instead walked over to pick up a couple of his orders that were up. He carried them over to their respective tables before coming back to the counter. He went about cleaning the counter and not speaking to Dillon.

"Hey, look man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." Dillon back tracked. Lucas picked up Dillon's order and sat it down in front of him.

"Whatever." Lucas shrugged. "Do you need anything else?"

"I'm good." He said putting ketchup on his burger. "What time do you have to work til tonight?"

"I get off at 6. Why?"

"The family is insisting on throwing me a birthday party despite my absurd amount of disinterest." Dillon explained. "Georgie and Maxie will be there. Probably Spinelli and Coop too. I told them to bring whoever as long as they were prepared to deal with the Quartermaines for the night. Same goes for you..." He didn't mention Guy again. "Plus I think my brother and my niece will be in town. You and Brooke are still friends even if..."

"I'm gay. Yeah, we're good." Lucas told him. "Is today actually your birthday?"

"Yep, May 29. I'm twenty-one, hence the party. Now that I'll be coming into all my ELQ stock and trust fund money, they all get to vie for my allegiance. If nothing else it should be fun to watch." Dillon laughed as he bit into his burger.

"So is having a birthday party the reason you walked in here all bummed out?"

"Not really." Dylan shook his head. He wiped his hands with a napkin before reaching into his pocket. "I...um...got this in the mail." He slid an envelope across the counter.

"This looks very official." Lucas commented as he reached for the envelope. It was a registered letter. Someone wanted to make sure this got to Dillon. "It says Dillon Hornsby. I thought your last name was Quartermaine."

"It is...Technically, we never had it legally changed, but Mom dropped the Hornsby as soon as we left Port Charles. It's a very long story." Dillon didn't want to get into it. "It's from Paul Hornsby, my dad."

"You'll have to tell me that story some day. I've never been clear on the whole thing." Lucas noticed that the envelope had been opened. "You read it?"

"Yeah, I read it." Dillon pushed his plate away, his appetite gone. "It's a very touching letter." He added sarcastically. "Paul thinks about me all the time. Especially when he's spending time with P.J.--that's what they call Paul Jr. They're in Georgia. One big happy family, his wife and son plus my cousin Sly and not to mention my sister who stops in all the time."

"Why would he send this to you today?" Lucas asked. It seemed a bit malicious.

"He figured I would be out from under my mom's thumb now. He wanted me to know the truth." Dillon paused. "How my mom stole me from him and how devastated he was. So devastated in fact that he married my brother's ex-wife and moved out of town. I--" Dillon stopped talking. Angry tears were threatening his eyes and he clearly didn't want to get anymore emotional. Lucas walked around the counter and sat down on a stool next to Dillon.

"You Quartermaines really do put the fun in dysfunctional." Lucas said lightly with a small smile. Dillon laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know how complicated things were with your dad, but if there's one thing that I know about, it's complicated relationships with a dad."

"Thanks." Dillon took a deep breath his emotions coming a little more under control. "I just always thought that he'd tried to get custody. I mean my mom said that we left because he wanted me. I assumed we stayed away because he was still trying. That's why I never changed my last name, both parents would have had to sign off. He didn't fight for me. He let me go and waited twenty years to tell me. I don't know who to be madder at: my mother or him."

"Look, Dillon, it's your birthday. You're 21, which is kind of a big deal, so enjoy it. This letter and Paul Hornsby will still be here tomorrow." Lucas said wisely. "I have to get back to work. I'd hug you, but people might talk. Those tabloids love Quartermaine gossip."

"Those kinds of headlines might actually make my dad come visit." Dillon joked. "I'll take my chances." He hugged Lucas. "Thanks."

"Um...Don't mention it." Lucas said letting go of Dillon. It wasn't like they hadn't hugged before. He'd nearly kissed him that time was in drag. Now was not the time to think about the fact he'd known the truth, that the thought of kissing Dillon had been more enjoyable than kissing some butch girl in Brook's band.

"You'll come tonight. There'll be booze and plenty of room in the east wing to crash if you need it." Dillon said a bit more cheerily leaving some bills (plus a sizable tip for Lucas) next to his plate. He stuck the letter back in his pocket.

"Yeah, I will." Lucas said.

"Great. It should start around 8. Bring a date or a friend or whatever if you want." Dillon reiterated.

"There's no one..." Lucas looked down. "Guy left for summer semester abroad. We're taking a break."

"O-oh. Sorry to hear that." Dillon added. "See ya tonight." Lucas nodded as Dillon headed out.

Dillon stopped outside the door. He looked back in through the window seeing Lucas clear away his plates and uneaten food. He watched as Lucas put the money for the bill in the register, smiling as he noticed the large tip. Dillon smiled to himself as he watched the other young man go about his work. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to see Lucas smile. It was nice. The hug had been nice. Dillon wasn't an idiot. He recognized these types of feelings. He'd had them for Georgie at one time and when that failed, he'd tried to have them for Lulu, but that was a horrible mistake too. Did he really have them for Lucas? Was it possible? He remembered one or two instances of finding another boy attractive, but he had always thought that natural and not indicative of being gay. Maybe it was just that Lucas was being nice to him. There would be enough family members and ex-girlfriends around tonight to keep his mind off of whatever had just happened.

"Happy Birthday." Georgie said walking over to Dillon as various Quartermaines and others milled around the living room of the mansion.

"Thanks." Dillon replied. "Glad you came."

"Me too." She smiled. "Edward is being ridiculously nice to you. Even your mom didn't say anything about me or your clothes or your hair."

"Hey, what's wrong with my clothes or my hair." Dillon asked with a hint of sarcasm. "According to the rules of the Quartermaine Trust, I get access to my trust fun including all ELQ stock."

"Ahh, now that makes sense." Georgie laughed softly. "I told Spinelli he should come by, but if that makes you uncomfortable...It's your birthday."

"It's fine. As much as that little weirdo annoys me, if he makes you happy, I'm happy for you." Dillon hugged his ex-wife warmly.

"Thanks. I'd say the same thing about whoever you are with too." Georgie grinned mischievously. "Even Lulu."

"Hey!" Lulu said approaching from behind Dillon. "For your information, me and Dillon are ancient history. We're barely even that." She folded her arms in mock anger, but the look on her face proved that all of this was behind them. She and Georgie were actually starting to become pretty good friends.

"Thanks, Georgie. That means a lot." He said ignoring Lulu. "And thanks for arriving fashionably late from upstairs." He teased Lulu.

"Haha...Tracy is being surprisingly well behaved." Lulu remarked. "Clearly Birthday Wishes do come true." The three laughed. "I overheard part of that lecture about 'Privilege' Edward was giving you. Do those privileges include use of the jet? Cuz I vote trip to Paris."

"Paris in the summer? No way." Dillon said reminding both girls of his upbringing in Europe. "Winter on the other hand..." More laughter followed. "I'm sure Grandfather would love it."

"I'm sure you wouldn't be the first Quartermaine kid to do that. I mean look at their track records." Georgie pointed out. Dillon shrugged in agreement.

Spinelli showed up not long thereafter along with Maxie and Coop. He and Maxie still rarely got along, but he knew Georgie liked her included in things that weren't potentially dangerous for her so this seemed like a nice distraction for her. Lulu ended up talking to her dad who had escorted Tracy to the party. She always looked so happy when her dad paid attention to her, like she'd forgotten all the goodbyes. He wondered if he'd feel that way if he saw Paul. Maybe he should talk to his stepsister about all of this stuff going on in his head. Dillon gladly accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Happy Birthday." Lucas offered with a half smile walking in from the foyer. Dillon looked up and smiled. Lucas held a small package in his hand. Dillon couldn't help, but notice that he looked quite nice—jeans, a snug, black t-shirt under a blazer. His earlier thoughts flooded back into his mind. "Here. This is for you."

"Uh...you...um...didn't have to do that." Dillon said taking the package from Lucas. "I mean this was totally last minute."

"It's not that big of a deal. You can open it later." Lucas said brushing the whole thing off.

"I can open it now. Come on," He motioned toward the foyer. They stepped out there away from the doorway. Dillon tore through the paper. It was a box set of Fellini films.

"Georgie mentioned once or twice that you were a fan and dragged her to screenings of his movies. I figured you already have them, but the guy at the store said this set was new with new features. You seem like a bonus feature kind of guy." Lucas explained.

"No, I mean I was totally going to buy this for myself and hadn't gotten to it. It's great. Thanks, Lucas."

"Yeah, well someone left me a pretty great tip today." Lucas grinned. He inwardly cringed, though. He had to stop doing this: falling for straight guys only meant heartbreak.

"I think we Quartermaines have a duty to pay anyone who listens to our array of bullshit." Dillon joked. He felt those butterfly feelings in his stomach again—the ones only consciously acknowledged when attributed to women in the past. "Would you be up for talking more tonight? After the party?"

"Sure, is everything ok?" Lucas asked. Dillon's tone sounded a bit odd.

"Fine, just something I need to talk to you about in private if that's ok." Dillon said. "You can crash here if you want."

"Right, you mentioned that." Lucas looked Dillon in the eye. "Is this about the diner and the hug or anything? You know it didn't mean anything. Just because I like guys doesn't mean I like every guy."

"No, it's not that. I know. It didn't mean anything." Dillon repeated. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

"Lucas?" Brook Lynn's familiar voice cut in. She was smiling happily. "Oh my God, I didn't know you were going to be here." She ran over and hugged him. He hugged her back, but stiffened slightly. He had to tell her the truth.

"Hey, Brook," Lucas said. "How's Manhattan?"

"Great! I've been writing a lot of songs. I'm going to hang around PC for a little while this summer. Maybe I could play some for you?" She suggested.

"Sure..." He replied just a bit hesitantly. He hoped they would still be as good of friends as they were before he came out to her. He didn't want Brook to think he had purposely misled her. He'd been misleading himself.

"Oh and Happy Birthday, _Uncle_ Dillon." Brooke added hugging Dillon. She liked to refer to him as her uncle to annoy him. It worked well.

"Very funny. Thanks. I'm glad you came. Is Ned here?"

"Uh-huh. He'll be right in." Brooke told him. "I'm going to go say hi to everyone. You coming?" She asked both of them.

"I should say hi to my cousins." Lucas agreed. "We'll talk later." Dillon nodded.

"I'm gonna wait for Ned." Dillon added.

It wasn't long before Tracy's oldest son walked in clicking off his cell phone as he closed the door.

"Shouldn't the guest of honor actually be mingling in his own party?" Ned questioned as Dillon walked over from the other side of the foyer.

"I--"

"No, need to explain. I remember it well. The vultures are circling I take it." Ned said knowingly. "Just remember, Mother, for all her shortcomings, no doubt taught you a thing or two about ELQ. You probably know more about how the business works than you realize. Don't let them make decisions for you."

"I'll keep that in mind. They are actually behaving themselves though. It's nice."

"So why are you out here?"

"I wanted to tell you something and Brook said you were on your way in..."

"What's up?" Ned asked folding his arms. "Is it about your trust fund?"

"Oh, God, no. I'm not going to like run away on the jet, though my friends would like to go to France."

"In the summer?"

"Don't worry I said the same thing." Dillon turned serious. "Um...I got a letter in the mail today, a registered letter." He paused. "From Paul Hornsby."

"Ahh, does he want to see you?" Ned questioned.

"No, yeah...I don't really know." Dillon said his confusion once again coming to the surface. "He didn't say that exactly, but he didn't say that he didn't want to see me. He said he's sorry he didn't try harder to find me. I always thought he did try hard and Mother just tried harder." He was near tears again, but laughed when thinking about Tracy scheming to keep them hidden in Europe. "He's got a whole family, a whole life. He thinks about me sometimes, but—he doesn't need me."

"I knew Paul pretty well and Jenny, obviously. He would want to see you if you wanted to see him. He wouldn't say no. Tracy on the other hand..."

"I hadn't even thought that far into it. It was just me and Mom for so long. We were a team even if I spent most of it with a nanny in a hotel. Now, there's so many family members and what not...It makes me wonder about him more."

"That's only natural." Ned assured him.

"Why didn't he write to me sooner?"

"I don't know. I really don't. He loved you. I remember when you were in the hospital as baby and no one knew if you were going to make it, he was sure you would. He was there everyday. I don't know why he didn't keep coming after you and I don't know why he wrote you now." Ned said honestly. "But I think the ball is in your court now, kid. You have a right to see him if you want to."

"Thanks, Ned." Dillon said taking a deep breath. "I'll think about it."

"Ok." Ned patted him on the shoulder. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks."

The other Jones's headed home knowing Mac would no doubt be waiting up for his girls. Lulu had snuck away a while before. Brook Lynn headed to the gate house to stay with her father so that left only Dillon and Lucas. Dillon showed Lucas up to one of the many guest rooms. He really didn't need to crash there other than the fact Dillon wanted to talk to him.

"I think my entire dorm suite would fit into this room." Lucas pointed out. "Do you still need to talk?"

"Yeah, but what I have to say," Dillon paused. "I'm not sure how to say it. It's something I haven't really paid attention to before."

"Is this still about your dad?"

"No...It's about you."

"Me?" Lucas questioned confused. "I thought we were cool."

"We're cool." Dillon assured him. "Umm...How did you know you were gay?"

"Seriously?" Lucas didn't quite see where this was going. He was far too sure that Dillon was strictly heterosexual. "I didn't for a long time. I pretended to feel about girls the way I really felt about guys. I mean you can find someone attractive without wanting to sleep with them. I thought Brooke was pretty and nice and assumed I was supposed to be attracted to that. I told myself that what I felt for men wasn't really there or as big of a thing as it really was."

"How'd you get passed that?"

"Are you like making a documentary about homosexuality or something?" Lucas asked skeptically. Dillon gave him a serious look. Lucas rolled his eyes. "Ok, I went to a club and when a guy hit on me, I went with it. I kissed him and I knew that that was how you were supposed to feel when you are with someone. Then I started exploring a little more and I knew that's what I wanted, the only thing I wanted." Lucas explained as best he could.

"You had to act on those feelings to figure it out?"

"Mmhhmm"

"Ok..." Dillon took a few steps closer to Lucas.

"Dillon, what--" He was cut off as Dillon pressed his lips rather awkwardly against Lucas's. "I don't know who put you up to this, probably Maxie, but it's not funny." Lucas said angrily when they broke apart. He pushed past Dillon for the door.

"Lucas! Wait!" Dillon called after him. He ran after him grabbing onto his arm before he could reach the stairs. "Please, I wasn't messing with you. No one put me up to it."

"Yeah, right. You were just, what? Bored? Lonely? So you decided to pick up the first _guy _you saw? You're right, that makes way more sense." Lucas pulled his arm free of Dillon's grip.

"No, no...I'm not bored or lonely." Dillon said hoping that none of the other family members were in the foyer as he followed Lucas down. "I've just been having certain feelings lately, thoughts..." Dillon tried to explain quietly.

"You were married to my cousin, for God's sake! You really expect me to believe you were just fooling yourself with Georgie?" Lucas shot back.

"I loved Georgie." Dillon said sternly not wanting anyone to think for a moment he had been leading her on or not truly in love with her. "I don't know what's going on. Not everyone is just gay or straight, right? I'm having a hard enough time dealing with this without you judging me."

"Sorry, but when someone uses me as their little experiment, I don't take to kindly to it." Lucas headed for the door. He left without another word.

"Oh Lucas, it's just you!" Bobbie said relieved when she heard the door close at such a late hour. "I thought you and the others were going to spend the night at the mansion."

"Yeah, we were—I was, but I changed my mind. Sorry if I woke you." He added.

"It's fine. Are you fine?" Bobbie asked concerned. Lucas shrugged. "Sweetie, I know you miss Guy. He was your first boyfriend, but that's no reason to spend your whole summer missing out on fun times with your friends."

"I had fun tonight." Lucas said. "I didn't see any reason to spend the night. I wasn't drinking so it was just as easy to drive home. I'm not missing out on anything." _At least not anything that made sense..._

"Ok. I'll take your word for it now. But if I catch you moping..." Bobbie warned hugging her son goodnight.

"I know." Lucas hugged her back. "Night, Mom."

He went up to his room at the Brownstone wanting nothing more than to just fall into bed forgetting anything about this day or night had ever happened. Dillon couldn't really be anything other than straight. He was too straight to be Bi, at least from anything Lucas had ever witnessed (his surprise kiss not withstanding). They hadn't even gotten along for a while since he was sure he'd break Georgie's heart. Now he looked poised to get his own heartbroken the same way. At most, Dillon was a little curious. He'd be with Lucas long enough to get it out of his system and then be done with it. Lucas's heart wouldn't take that.

No, nothing could happen with Dillon Quartermaine.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: See chapter one for notes and such

* * *

Dillon hadn't had much to drink the night before and yet he woke up with a massive headache. Why had he kissed Lucas? He'd told himself it was a bad idea, but then he had seen Lucas standing there, looking so perfect. He almost wished that he hadn't felt anything when they kissed, but for a brief moment before Lucas pulled away it had been great. Of course, Lucas hadn't been completely wrong. Technically the kiss was an experiment. He wished he'd never conducted such an experiment. He'd prefer not to know the truth.

"Dillon, my boy, I was hoping you might be willing to discuss business." Edward remarked as soon as Dillon sat down at the breakfast table. The old man rarely waited for the rest of the household to join him for breakfast, which mean he was clearly up to something. "Now, I know you are still focused on that silly film business, but as a Quartermaine it will be expected that at the very least you play a role on the board."

"R-right..." Dillon said hesitantly biting a piece of toast. "My mom's told me all about ELQ. Like you said, I had a long time to learn all her tricks at her knee." He loved the look on Edward's face when he feared that under his slacker appearance, Dillon was really a corporate raider.

Edward cleared his throat, "Be that as it may, board meetings can take some getting used to. The first one that you will be involved in will occur a week from this Friday. It might be a good idea to follow the lead of a more seasoned member. I, myself..."

"Honestly, Daddy, I would expect you to at least wait until you knew what the vote was going to be on to start trying to get your hands on Dillon's vote." Tracy said making her usual grand entrance into the dining room. "Besides, if he will be following anybody's lead, it will no doubt be his mother's."

"Here we go." Dillon muttered under his breath. "You guys realize if I think I'm going to need advice I'll ask Emily or Ned before I ask one of you."

"I should have expected as much." Edward tossed his paper down on the table and got up. "He gets this sort of willfulness from you."

"And where did I get it?" Tracy shot back. "Now, sweetheart, did you have a nice birthday?"

"Uh, yeah it was fine." Dillon took another bite of toast, his stomach flip-flopping a little at the memory of Lucas's lips on his. "Mom, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it, darling?" Tracy asked.

"I got a letter in the mail." He paused. "It was from Paul Hornsby."

"What did that man say to you?" Tracey was getting upset. "He gave up his parental rights. He had no right to contact you."

"I'm not a kid anymore and he didn't ask to see me or hear from me." Dillon rolled his eyes. This is why they didn't talk about his father.

"Good." Tracy said firmly. "I think it would be best if you forgot about the whole thing. He is not worth knowing. He probably just wants your money."

"Not everything is about money!" Dillon said angrily standing up and storming out of the room then the mansion. Tracy just didn't know when to stop.

Lucas had slept only moderately better than Dillon. The memory of the kiss was just as real, but it was also backed by significant anger. He and Dillon had had their differences in the past and he had worried about Georgie, but he had never thought Dillon would be so malicious as to play around like this.

"Morning, sweetie," Bobbie said a bit too cheerily. "I left your breakfast in the kitchen. I have to get to work."

"Thanks, Mom." Lucas said rubbing the last bits of sleep from his eyes. "How late's your shift?"

"I should be home in time for dinner." Bobbie told him. "I'll see you then."

"Bye." Lucas was barely paying attention to his mother as he headed into the kitchen. His mother still worried about his diabetes even though Lucas was more than old enough to handle it on his own. He was used to the 'eat breakfast and take your insulin' discussion even if it was totally unnecessary.

"Oh," Bobbie said a bit surprised when she opened the door. "Hi, Dillon."

"Hi, Ms. Spencer. Is Lucas here?" This was a bit awkward. He and Lucas didn't socialize enough for a surprise visit to seem normal especially having just seen each other the night before.

"Um...Yes--"

"What are you doing here?" Lucas questioned, an edge to his voice as he walked in from the kitchen having heard Dillon's voice.

"Well, I need to get to work." Bobbie said looking between the two of them. "Whatever happened at that party last night, I'll let you two sort it out. I have a feeling it involves one of my nieces." Bobbie couldn't be right all the time. "See you tonight."

She headed out the door and Dillon stepped inside.

"We need to talk." Dillon said firmly.

"No, you need to get the hell out of my house!" Lucas shot back.

"Last night..."

"You proved that you were a bigger jerk than I ever imagined." Lucas cut him off quickly. "You know how hard it was for me to even tell Georgie that I was gay and she's my best friend. You only found out then because you two were connected at the hip. How could you throw it back in my face?"

"I wasn't throwing anything back in your face!" Dillon argued back. "Seriously, if you would just let me explain instead of going on the attack."

"Fine. You have a minute." Lucas folded his arms across his chest.

"Ok...Look, I've had feelings for guys before. Nothing major, but little things. Then I started having them for you, especially after we talked about my dad. I saw you last night and you looked..." Dillon flushed as he started listening to himself talking. "What I did last night, I did because I wanted to. I'm sorry. Ok? And you should realize that I'm a Quartermaine and Sorry is not our strong suit." He couldn't help throwing in a little sarcasm.

."Now what? You expect me to fall into your arms and swoon? I'm not that much of a queen." Lucas retorted feeling still more angry than not.

"Fine...Fine..." Dillon threw his hands up a little. "I won't mention this or how I feel about you again, as long as you accept the fact that I didn't want to hurt you."

"Whatever..." Lucas shrugged. "You don't have feelings for me, Dillon. Even if you really do have a thing for guys, I was just the one in the closest proximity. Now I need to eat and go to work."

"Admittedly, I don't know a lot about...this." Dillon motioned between them. "But I do have feelings for you."

"Whatever you say, Dillon." Lucas turned away and headed back to the kitchen hoping Dylan would take the hint and leave.

"There's one more thing," Dillon followed him. "You kissed me back. Before you started freaking out, you kissed me back."

"Why are you here?" Lucas avoided commenting on what he did or didn't do the night before. "Why did you come all the way over here when you knew I wasn't inclined to forgive you?"

"I didn't plan on coming here, ok? I know that sounds lame and cheesy and if someone said it in a movie, I'd probably throw popcorn at the screen." Dillon admitted. Lucas nearly laughed, but stopped himself. "My grandfather was trying to talk business with me and then my mom got involved. Long story short, it annoyed me a lot so I got up and left. It wasn't until I was outside, I realized I came here."

Lucas was quiet. He picked a little at the plate of food his mother had left for him thinking about what Dillon had said. He wanted to believe him, that he really did have feelings for Lucas, but it seemed so unlikely.

"Can I ask a question?" Dillon asked breaking the silence. Lucas wearily nodded. "Did you want to kiss me?"

"Don't make me answer that." Lucas pleaded.

"Because you did."

"Yeah, I did. Happy now!" Lucas wanted to scream and very nearly did. "And I wanted to before you kissed me. But I don't kiss straight guys."

"I'm not..."

"You don't know what you are." Lucas said a bit more calmly. "Just please go. Think about this. By tomorrow you'll probably be asking yourself what you were thinking. I appreciate the apology, but nothing is going to happen between us."

"I'm glad you said that." Dillon said with a hint of a smile.

"Huh?"

"Maybe I don't know exactly what I'm in to or how to define my sexuality, but I do know movies. Whenever the romantic lead says 'nothing is going to happen' it always does." Dillon explained.

"This isn't a movie." Lucas pointed out. "I really do need to get ready for work."

Dillon nodded, "I'll let myself out. And I'll stay away for now, but this isn't over."

Dillon did his best to avoid Lucas for the next few days. It was a decision further proven to be the best when he saw Lucas walking down the street and the other man opted to turn around rather than be faced with feigning cordiality with Dillon. Things at home weren't helping with Edward and Tracy still hedging his loyalties. He was tempted to go find some other guy he could experiment with (or at least prove to Lucas he was serious about these feelings) and use that person to freak the Quartermaines out. Unfortunately, Dillon realized that was exactly what Lucas was afraid he was up to.

It also wasn't helping that Dillon had chosen the worst possible distraction to keep his mind off of Lucas. He was attempting to write back to Paul Hornsby. He didn't know what to say and everything he tried to say came out wrong. He didn't want to sound angry, but he was. He didn't want Paul to feel guilty, but he did.

"Are you writing to that snake?" Tracy asked when she walked into the living room while Dillon was sitting on the sofa with his laptop. "I know you aren't doing school work."

"Mom, this is hard enough without you adding to it." Dillon tried to remain calm. "I just want to tell him what I'm doing. Who I am. I think you should let me."

"You think I should let you." Tracy shook her head. "I have spent your entire life making sure that you would be far away from him. Because of me, you are a Quartermaine. You have always had anything you've ever wanted. I made sure that we didn't need him."

"But I did, Mom. I did." Dillon said firmly. "I have like no memories of him. The only time I remember even seeing him aside from that one picture you gave me was when he came to Europe to sign away his rights to me. He hugged me and he kissed me and he left. You only made him do it so that you could come back here to bother Ned about something. I was three."

"Are you finished? That might be the most indulgent speech you've ever given me. Is Ned giving you lessons on them?" Tracy crossed her arms. "I did it for you. For your own good. Go ahead write to him. You'll be thanking me for taking you away."

"Just when I think you couldn't say anything more despicable---"

"The butler let me in." A voice cut in from the door way. It was Lucas.

"Whichever Spencer you're here to see right now, isn't here." Tracy snapped. "You can just--" She made a shooing motion.

"Uh...I'm here to see Dillon. I didn't mean to interrupt, but..." Lucas let the sentence trailed off, his eyes fell on Dillon.

"Please, interrupt." Dillon closed his laptop. "As wonderful as it is getting motherly advice from you, I've had enough for one day."

"You and your brother are the same." Tracy said pouring herself a drink. "You're both gluttons for punishment."

"Yep, that's me. Lucas, let's get out of here." Dillon said leading Lucas back out of the mansion. "I've gotta say you are like the last person I expected to see today."

"Yeah, I guess we've both been doing a pretty good job of avoiding each other."

"Especially when we purposely turn away to avoid speaking to one another." Dillon mentioned as they walked away from the house.

"So just because I'm a year older than you doesn't automatically make me that much more mature than you." Lucas smiled the same smile he'd had at Kelly's the day that Dillon left the tip, the smile that made him smile. "Anyway, thanks for staying away."

"Thanks for...coming back. I think." Dillon said looking at the ground. "Why did you come back?" He asked with a nervous laugh.

"I was a little harsh. Ok, a lot harsh." Lucas admitted. "You said something before you walked out last time. It stuck. When you said that you didn't know how to define your sexuality...I've been there. I freaked out when other people started judging me about it. You know, you were there." He conceded. "It wasn't fair to do it for you. I needed this past week to figure it out."

"Ok." Dillon replied. "And for the record, next time I'll tell you what I'm thinking instead of using my lips. Well, I mean aside from using them to speak."

"That sounds like a plan." Lucas chuckled. He took a deep breath. "So what are you thinking?"

"The same thing I was thinking that night." He answered truthfully. "I like you, Lucas. I..." He searched for better words, but none came. "Like...you."

"Come here." Lucas said motioning toward an alley. They weren't that far from Kelly's now, but there weren't that many people around. "We've agreed that I reacted badly. In my defense, you caught me way off guard. It's all a blur now." He explained.

Lucas's mind was moving three million miles a second. The truth was that he had spent the whole week thinking about what he wanted. He didn't want his heartbroken, that hadn't changed, but he wanted Dillon. He brushed Dillon's cheek with his finger tips, reaching around to the back of his neck. He pulled Dillon towards him, pressing his lips against his. This time neither pulled away until absolutely necessary. Both were breathing a little heavier and Lucas rested his forehead against Dillon's, keeping one eye out for passersby.

"Well," Lucas laughed in disbelief that he had actually just kissed Dillon Quartermaine. "I guess it doesn't help that it's still a blur." They both chuckled. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I mean it's still all a little surreal. But good surreal." He quickly added the last part for fear Lucas would think he regretted it.

"Alright, even though we aren't exactly great at it, I think we have to do some more talking." Lucas pointed out. His fingers ran down Dillon's arm savoring the contact. "But not here." He stepped back. "I doubt getting caught in an alley is how you want people to find out we're doing whatever."

"Good point."

"Do you have stuff you need to do? Cuz I have the day off. My mom's working until at least six. We could go back to my house and talk." Lucas offered.

"Sounds like a plan."

Lucas and Dillon entered the Brownstone with only a hint of caution. Lucas called his mom's name a few times to make sure she hadn't switched shifts or anything like that. Luckily, they had the place to themselves. That was really what they needed right now.

"Ok...umm...Do you want a drink or something to eat or anything?" Lucas asked. Dillon shook his head. "Then I guess we're done stalling."

"And yet I have no idea what to say from here." Dillon added the words that Lucas was thinking.

"Uh...We need to come up with some ground rules, I guess." Lucas tried to be logical. "I'm assuming whatever we're doing, you aren't planning for it to be public."

"I honestly hadn't thought that far into it. I hadn't planned to come out, at least until I knew what exactly I was coming out as." Dillon said honestly. "Would that bother you?"

"I would never make someone else come out knowing how hard it was for me especially not when we've been going out for less than an hour." Lucas stopped realizing what he said. "Is that what you want? Dating, I mean."

"Y-yeah, yes." Dillon answered. "We both I've never done this before. I don't mean it's an experiment, but it is new for me. I couldn't even handle being with Georgie for a long time. Can we just take it slow?"

"That sounds about right." Lucas concurred. "Whatever happens down the line, I want to make sure Georgie doesn't get hurt. Even if we never make it past like one date, if it looks like someone is going to tell her, we do it first."

"I don't want to hurt her either. Or Brook, for that matter. I mean I'm her uncle, you're her gay ex." Dillon said. Lucas nodded. "I feel like an idiot. What now?"

"Hey, you're a step ahead of me. The first guy I randomly picked up beat the shit out of me." Lucas said sardonically.

"Lucas--"

"It's ok. Joking about it is my way of proving it didn't destroy me." Lucas assured him. "As for what now, I'm gonna need to eat in about a half hour," He pointed out remembering that it was almost time for his next insulin shot. He had to eat a half an hour later. "You wanna grab a bite at Kelly's? No PDA's or anything, just as friends. We can talk about things besides us sort of dating."

Lucas hesitated for a moment before reaching over and taking Dillon's hand in his own. He massaged the palm with his thumb gently, his eyes focused on their hands.

"Despite my outburst the first time you kissed me, I wanted to be with you. I've liked you knowing I couldn't have you for a while. I used to get jealous of Georgie especially before I had to come out. That's why I was so hurt when I thought you were messing with me. I just want to make sure we're clear on that." Lucas explained. His eyes shift to Dillon's face.

"Crystal." Dillon swore to him.

"Ok, I need to take my insulin shot before we go to lunch." Lucas told him. He started to get up. "I've never been in a relationship where I was the more experienced one. If I push you to something you aren't ready for--"

"I promise to tell you."

"Good." Lucas headed up to his bedroom to take his shot.

The usual lunch crowd was in Kelly's when Dillon and Lucas arrived. They were able to grab a table away from the counter. Georgie was working and they didn't want her to overhear anything they might end up talking about. The crowd at the counter gave them a nice out as well so that she wouldn't be suspicious.

"Hey, you guys. I didn't expect to see you both here, together." Georgie said with a smile coming over to see what she could get them.

"We ran into each other on our way over." Lucas supplied quickly. Being in the closet had helped him master the art of the subtle, vague lie. Georgie went for it anyway, but it was in her nature to accept what people told her as true. She didn't have much time to stand around and chat, given the crowd, so she took their orders and hoped to be able to sneak away on a break while they were still there.

"So what you and your mom fighting about?" Lucas asked as they waited for their food.

"How much of it did you hear?"  
"'You'll be thanking me for taking you away.'" He quoted. Dillon nodded.

"I told her that Paul wrote to me and she thinks he wants my money. Now, I'm no expert on the guy, mainly because she didn't see fit to tell me about him, but he's doing pretty well for himself. I saw him in a business magazine once while I was waiting for my mom to come out of some meeting once. Plus, she should know I'm not so stupid as to send him check." He explained. "Then this morning, she found me trying to write a letter to him. She made me a Quartermaine instead of a Hornsby. I should grovel at her feet." He paused. "Did I tell you about the only time I remember seeing him?"

"No, tell me now." Lucas suggested. Dillon smiled.

"Ok, I was three and we were living in France at least for a few months. I was having extra sessions with my tutor because Mom was seeing some guy and she thought we'd stay in France for a long time. Needless to say, we didn't, but she still wanted me to learn French fast. Not so easy for a three year old." Dillon began. "I was in the hotel room. It was one of those suites and me and the tutor were in the living room. I heard someone knock on my mom's door, the bedroom, not the suite. I heard a lot of yelling. Then she brought Paul in to see me. He looked sad. Mom said to say goodbye to him. He kissed me on the forehead and hugged me. Then he left. I found out later that was when he came to sign away his rights to me. It was Mom's idea. He had stopped trying for custody, stopped looking for us and she wanted to come back here." Dillon looked sad. "We didn't stay here very long either."

"How's your French?" Lucas teased bringing Dillon's smile back.

"Tres bon, naturellement." Dillon replied with a smirk. "We never stayed very long, but we went back there a lot."

"I forget sometimes how crazy your childhood must have been."

"Don't feel too jealous. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be." Dillon informed him.

"What wasn't all it's cracked up to be?" Georgie asked bringing their food over to them.

"My reckless childhood abroad." Dillon filled her in.

"Don't tell me you were speaking French again. I thought that you only did that as a come on. Je t'adore, Georgie." She said reminded of a few of their more intimate moments. They had moved on enough to tease each other. Dillon blushed a little and Lucas stiffled a laugh.

"Thanks, cuz." Lucas said. "I'll make sure Quartermaine leaves a big tip. I know he can afford it."

"Georgie! Order up!" Someone called from the kitchen.

"Oh, ok...Gotta run guys. Enjoy." She scurried back to the kitchen.

"So French is your preferred method of seduction?" Lucas asked mischievously.

"Oui."

"I'll have to remember that." Lucas commented. "I'm sorry about your dad, that you don't have better memories. At least some of mine of my dad are better. There's some pretty bad one's too. Did Georgie ever tell you about when Carly first showed up?"

"Uh uh." Dillon shook his head a little. "I kinda assumed she was always here."

"Nope, she came into town wanting revenge on Mom for giving her up for adoption. She decided the best way to do that was breaking up her family. I fell for it to. I mean I was a kid, but she had me totally turned against Mom. Dad left to be with her, but Carly didn't really love him. Dad snapped when he found out Michael wasn't really his kid. He kidnapped the baby and Robin. Everything was a mess for so long. It was never the same after B.J. died."

"I'm sorry." Dillon offered. "Every family in this town seems to have some major problems. Maybe Quartermaines and Spencers more so than others."

"Yeah and the Jones side of my family is doing pretty ok for itself on the problem side, even if we just look at Maxie." Lucas joked in return. "The bottom line is I only came to terms with my dad when he died and I wish it had been different. This is your chance to see if you can come to terms with your dad before its too late."

"Vous êtes un grand ami." Dillon replied. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm...French." He paused. "Thanks." He reached across the table and briefly touched the other man's hand, just long enough without being noticed.

By the time they had finished eating Kelly's had calmed down. They were getting ready to leave when Georgie called Lucas over.

"I'll meet you outside." He mumbled to Dillon. Georgie took no notice.

"See you guys later." Dillon headed for the door.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you and Dillon were hanging out just the two of you for no specific reason." Georgie said warmly. "I'm glad. I care about you both a lot."

"This what you wanted to tell me?" Lucas questioned skeptically.

"Do you have a crush on Dillon?"

Lucas's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "Georgie, he's straight."

"That's an answer to a different question. I mean you're gay, but I still had a crush on you. I mean it happens. But he's straight and I know he can get lonely since he doesn't do much when he's not in school and he doesn't want to be around his family. If you guys start hanging out...I don't want you to get hurt because you can't have him. I know that doesn't feel good."

"Listen, you are really, really sweet as always to look out for me. Maybe I do like Dillon, but I know where I stand with him. So don't worry about that." Lucas didn't feel like it was really a lie. He did know where he stood and he did like Dillon.

"Ok, you mean too much to me for me to sit around and watch you break your own heart."

"And vice versa. I'll see you later, Georgie." Lucas gave his cousin a quick hug and went to meet up with Dillon.

"What was that about?" Dillon asked.

"Georgie thinks I have a crush on you." Lucas told him and watched as his eyes went wide. "Don't worry. She doesn't think you have a crush on me too. She wants me to be careful."

"Oh," Dillon felt a bit of pressure falling on him knowing that Lucas in some regards could stand to be hurt the most by this whole affair of sorts. "So what now?"

"I don't know." Lucas said, though it was somewhat unclear exactly what question he was answering.

They wandered back through the park ultimately ending up at the Brownstone. Bobbie was still at work and it seemed like the most private place they were likely to find. Neither young man had ever found small talk quite this difficult.

"So are you going to be around this summer?" Dillon asked realizing he had no idea if Lucas would be going away for either school or something the way Guy had.

"Yeah, I'm going to keep working at Kelly's on the weekend and I'm going to be a counselor at the diabetic camp at the community center. I used to go there all the time as a kid so when I got older I just sort of started counseling." Lucas answered. "How about you?"

"Working at L&B." Dillon's answer was followed by silence. "I'm trying to be really logical about all of this, like the you and me thing, and we all know logical isn't the function my brain usually leaps to. I feel like I'm 14 again and don't know what to do when I'm alone with another person like this."

"Don't worry I've been there. You got to witness the better part of my not dealing with things." Lucas reminded him. He was quiet, thoughtful for a moment. He shifted his position on the sofa so that he was sitting with his back against the arm rest, his legs crossed. "Come here."

Lucas gently held onto Dillon's right wrist, guiding him into a similar position. Dillon acquiesced nicely. Lucas wanted to be sure that no matter what happened, this experience, whatever it was, turned out well for Dillon. He didn't want the other man's first experiences with another man to be like his had been. He remembered how afraid he had been after the bashing, it was like still lying to himself.

"If you want to stop, just say so." Lucas told him, entwining the fingers on both their hands together. He looked Dillon directly in the eye.

"Ok." The reply came breathy with anticipation.

Lucas slid a little bit closer. He let go of one of Dillon's hands and snaked it around his neck. He massaged the back of Dillon's neck for a few moments before pulling him forward until their lips connected. It was no longer just single kisses. Lucas almost pulled himself out of the moment as the thought occurred to him that he was actually, full out, making out with Dillon. He'd only ever imagined this in one or two of his dreams, right up there with Brad Pitt and David Beckham—totally hot and totally unlikely. They broke apart for air and Lucas examined Dillon's face carefully.

"You sure this is ok?"

"Dude, you really don't have to keep asking that. I want this." Dillon assured him. "I want you."

That was one thing Lucas had been waiting for him to say. It had been implied and talked around, but that was the first time Dillon had said it in that many words. Lucas didn't need to hear anything else. He returned his lips to Dillon's for fear that he might wake up any second. He trailed kisses along Dillon's jawline, down to the sensitive parts of his neck, kissing and tasting his way. His hand moved under Dillon's shirt enjoying the feel of his skin under his hand. Dillon's hand moved into Lucas's hair, his fingers massaging his scalp. Lucas moaned.

"It's good to know that certain things are the same with guys as they are with girls." Dillon joked. Lucas chuckled.  
"You aren't wrong there." Lucas said. "Are you still glad you did this?"

"Very." It was a sincere answer and Lucas was relieved. He knew that it was possible Dillon had just been confused and that a mini-make out session would only prove that he was hopelessly hetero. "How about you?"

"Aside from thinking any second I'm going to wake up from a dream, I'm very ok."

"You dream about me?" Dillon asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Don't be too proud of yourself. You aren't the only person I've had a sex dream about." It was meant as a joke, but Lucas could see and feel Dillon's muscles tensing. He got the hint. "Dillon, I told you, we'll take it slow and you call the shots. Relax, I'm not talking about us having sex in reality right this second. We'll see what happens."

"How are you so understanding?" Dillon asked. Lucas was a great guy anyway and good friend, but Dillon realized he didn't have to put up with stalling.

"Well for starters I don't just jump into bed with people. I'm not ready to sleep with you anymore than you are to sleep with me. The fact that my coming to terms with my sexuality was one of the most awful experiences also helps. I know how it feels to be in your shoes to an extent. I haven't exactly done this a lot either. I've been with a few people I met once I came out at a bar and Guy. And the one thing that taught me is that I would want your first time to be more special than mine was."

"Thank you." Dillon nearly whispered. He leaned into Lucas who in turn laid down pulling Dillon on top of him, their lips returning to their earlier activities.

"Mom? Lucas? Anybody home?" Carly's voice filled the living room of the Brownstone. Lucas pulled away from Dillon looking at his half-sister, somewhat shocked, Dillon still more or less on top of him. "Oh my God! Lucas...I didn't...It's two o'clock in the afternoon..." Her eyes fell on Dillon before shooting an even more shocked look at Lucas. "None of my business. I'll just..." Carly quickly exited. Lucas looked first to Dillon. He looked a little panic stricken.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: All notes can be found on chapter one.

* * *

"I'm going to talk to her. It'll be ok. Just stay here." Lucas said sliding out from under Dillon who only nodded. Lucas ran out the door.

"Carly! Wait!" He called struggling to catch up to her. "I just need to talk to you for a second."

"It's really...ok." Carly said turning around. "Bobbie told me about...I didn't know that Dillon was...Listen, I've made some rather interesting romantic choices and it is not my place to so much as comment on anyone else's life."

"Whoa, slow down." Lucas said with a grin. "Yes, I'm gay. Dillon is still dealing with his own sexual orientation. Nobody knows. Not Mom, not his family, PLEASE don't tell anyone."

"I won't. I'd rather not mention walking in on my brother making out with anyone." Carly promised. "Can I give you a little advice?"

"I'm betting I can't stop you."

"The Quartermaines are bad news. Even if Dillon is a nice guy, even if him being gay wasn't the issue...They will chew you up and spit you out."

"We are not even close to them knowing about me or him or any of that." Lucas explained. "Believe it or not, this is our first date."

"Right." Carly took a deep breath. "I promise to keep my mouth shut. I was looking for Mom, but I'll just..."

"She's working. You can probably find her at the hospital." Lucas explained. "I appreciate the promise." Carly smiled and turned to leave. She turned back on her heel quickly.

"One more thing," She said. "Umm...you're careful, right? When you do have...Not just because you are gay, but you know..."

"Yep, I am always careful."

"Ok, I am so not looking forward to having this conversation with Michael or Morgan." Carly added. "I'll see you later, kiddo."

"Later."

Lucas walked back to the Brownstone. He half expected to find that Dillon had cleared out, but there he was sitting on the sofa.

"Well, I think that officially ruined the mood." Lucas grinned. "Carly said she won't say anything. I take Carly's word with a grain of salt, but she has nothing to gain from outing us so I wouldn't worry."

"I think my favorite part was when she said it was two o'clock." Dillon tried to hide his still slightly panicked feelings. "I can't wait to see what happens the next time we go out."

"This time doesn't have to be over yet. My mom will be out until six. We can just hang out." Lucas suggested.

"I'd like that." Dillon gave him a quick kiss. "How about a movie?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Lucas laughed. "A movie it is."

Dillon looked through Lucas DVD collection, making comments on both the good and the bad much to Lucas's amusement. He was glad that Dillon had finally relaxed. It made him feel less like he was taking advantage of a situation that was still very confusing for the other man. Dillon eventually settled on a film and stuck it in the player. He sat back down beside Lucas, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling him close to his side as they watched the movie. Lucas was paying more attention to Dillon than to the movie, though. It was nice to have someone resting against him, comfortably again. His fingers moved in soft patterns along Dillon's arm, occasionally moving into his hair and massaging his scalp.

"That feels nice." Dillon said.

"Good, it's supposed to." Lucas teased quietly. "I'm glad you like it." He added.

"Me too."

The sound of Bobbie's keys in the door allowed Lucas and Dillon enough time to untangle themselves leaving nothing particularly suspicious about the pair watching a movie. Bobbie was a little surprised to see Dillon at the Brownstone yet again, but regardlessly, she was glad he was spending time with his friends and not moping over Guy.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, boys." Bobbie replied warmly. "What have you two been up to today?" Dillon fought the urge to start laughing, something not lost on Lucas.

"Just this and that." Lucas shot a covert glance at Dillon. "We met up at Kelly's, watched a movie..."

"That sounds nice. Dillon, would you like to stay for dinner?" Bobbie offered.

"Um...actually, I should probably get home. I didn't exactly leave under the best circumstances this morning." Dillon remembered the mess that had been the fight with his mother. It seemed like ages ago with everything that had happened since then.

"I'll walk you out." Lucas offered. They walked past Bobbie into the entrance of the Brownstone. Lucas checked over his shoulder to make sure that Bobbie was out of ear shot. "I'll call you tonight."

"Yeah." Dillon smiled. "I had a good time today."

"It was nice. Hopefully not the last time?" Lucas said with a hint of hesitation.

"I don't think so." Dillon assured him. "I'll talk to you tonight."

Lucas went back inside and found Bobbie already working on making dinner in the kitchen.

"Need a hand?" Lucas offered. Things had been so much better between them since he had gone through therapy. He'd been able to finally articulate everything she needed to know about him.

"Sure." Bobbie said with a smile. "You and Dillon have been hanging out a lot lately."

"Yeah," Lucas had already started making up reasons why they were hanging out so much without the rest of the group. "His dad contacted him on his birthday. He's having some issues with that and he knows that I had some things go down with Dad. He's just looking for advice, I guess."

"Oh, well I'm glad you've been helping him then." Bobbie remarked. "Here, cut these vegetables up, honey."

Tracy had decided to give Dillon the silent treatment over the argument that morning. It was rather surprising knowing how much Tracy liked the sound of her own voice. It also served as proof that she really hated Paul and the idea of Dillon being in contact with him. She was probably working on some diabolical plan, he thought. He was perfectly happy to go up to his room after dinner and shut the rest of the mansion inhabitants out. He wasn't keen on ruining an otherwise good day. He returned to his laptop and his letter to Paul. He wouldn't let Tracy change his mind.

_Dear Paul,_

Already Dillon was stuck. Should he call him Paul? He certainly wouldn't be putting Dad. Mr Hornsby? He thought bitterly. That's about how well he knew him. Paul would have to do.

_Thanks for the letter. I appreciated it. I'm kind of wondering why you decided to contact me now. I used to wonder about you a lot on my birthdays before. I thought maybe one year you would come. I'm not really trying to make this sound like a guilt trip. I don't understand..._

Dillon very nearly went back and deleted everything he had written. He didn't understand any of it. If he wrote an angry letter, Paul would think that he was right, that Tracy had turned Dillon into some conniving, bitter person. That just wasn't true. His childhood hadn't been that bad either.

_...why you didn't come back after the day when you signed away your rights to me. I know that you said Tracy could have me and we could come back to the States without you taking legal action. But you signed away custody. I was still there. Maybe you won't write back and maybe you won't even read this. I might as well say how I feel._

_Dillon Quartermaine_

He purposely signed it as Quartermaine. He wouldn't pretend that he was carrying on the Hornsby name when Paul Hornsby didn't even acknowledge his existence for the most part. He saved the letter still not sure whether he would ever send it or not. The sound of Dillon's cell phone ringing pulled him out of his wallowing in self pity.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." Lucas said. "Everything ok? You sound a little..."

"Working on that letter to Paul Hornsby." Dillon told him. "I guess it's done, but...I don't know. We'll see what happens."

"Yeah."

"I had a great time, though, today. Even with Carly walking in and the mad dash to break apart when your mom came in." Dillon didn't want him to think his behavior was related to that.

"I know. It was pretty great. Do you want to get coffee tomorrow? I have to work in the afternoon, but I'm free all morning."

"That sounds great."

There was a Starbucks in uptown Port Charles that very few of the downtown residents visited. There were far too many local shops to keep them occupied to make the trip uptown seem worthwhile. Wanting not to see any of the downtown residents they knew so well, though, made the Starbucks the perfect place to get some coffee. Dillon arrived shortly after Lucas to find the other young man sitting at one of the booths along the walls, quietly tucked in a corner. Lucas immediately noticed the envelope in Dillon's hand.

"Another letter?" Lucas asked.

"It's the one I wrote to Paul. I think I'm going to mail it today." Dillon explained. He left his bag and the letter at the table before heading up to the counter to order a drink. Lucas watched him from a distance, still shocked that they were here having some sort of secret date.

"Did you work things out with you mom?" Lucas asked when Dillon returned with his coffee.

"No, she wasn't speaking to me yesterday and probably still isn't today. She'll forget about it once she wants me to do something for her. She has a nice selective memory like that." Dillon shrugged a little. "If I can get answers from Paul, though, about why now, it'll be worth it."

"I hope it is." Lucas said truthfully. He wanted to hug Dillon or hold his hand, something to comfort him, but he didn't want to make him uncomfortable in public.

"I have one lousy picture of him. That's the only reason I even know what he looks like." Dillon swallowed hard against his emotions. "I wonder if he can say the same about me."

"He's missing out and we both know it." Lucas smiled at his friend turned something else. Dillon reached into his bag retrieving a small polaroid. It was bent a little, clearly someone had looked at it frequently at some point and time.

"This is it. The only picture of me and my parents." He slid it across the table to Lucas. "It was taken the day I left the hospital."

"Oh wow, you were tiny." Lucas remarked.

"I was really premature. They didn't think I was going to make it. My mom used to tell me how devastated she was and she blamed herself because she had slipped and gone into labor too soon. Knowing that is what reminds me that she does have a bigger heart than she'd like people to think." He laughed softly.

"Your dad was kind of a fox." Lucas added. His lips quirked into a smirk. "Guess we know where your good looks came from."

"Thanks, but that's a little bit creepy." Dillon said amused.

"I vaguely remember your dad."

"How?" Dillon felt a pang wishing he could say the same thing.

"He and Jenny were friends with Mac and Felicia. I was like 2 or 3 when they were supposed to get married. Something happened and Paul and his wife got married instead. I was there with my parents." Lucas paused. "Sorry I don't remember more."

"I wouldn't expect you, too. I didn't know they were friends. Maybe I should ask them for advice." Dillon was thoughtful. "I've thought about asking Luke, too. I mean he is my stepdad for what its worth. He's like a cousin or something to Paul's wife."

"Do you want my advice?" Lucas ventured.

"Sure."

"Forget about what Luke thinks or Mac or Felicia and especially your mom. I stayed away from my dad a lot because I was mad at him. After my sister died, he just lost it. Carly came into the picture and didn't help. I blamed him because it was easy. He was the reason my parents weren't together anymore." Lucas explained. "I wish I could get some of it back. I knew how my mother would react about me being gay because I knew my mother. If I'd known my father better, I would have known I could go to him."

Lucas looked down focusing on the table. He didn't regret much in his life, even hiding who he was and not turning Frank in in the first place after the bashing were choices he could stand by. But not trying to be close with his father in the wake of his parents divorce was unforgivable and unforgettable.

"I didn't mean to bum you out too." Dillon interjected into his guilt. He picked up the photo again and looked at it. He shook his head and put it back in his bag. "I'll mail the letter. Then the ball's in his court, right?"

"Right." Lucas nodded.

Lucas and Dillon parted at their cars with a very quick kiss. Dillon watched Lucas pull away before heading across the street. There was a mailbox on the corner. He tossed the letter in wondering which would be worse: hearing from Paul, or not hearing from him ever again.

It was the fourth of July before they knew it. They had been together for a month more or less. They hadn't been doing much given the restrictions of their current situations, but they saw each other daily and talked more still. Dillon hadn't mentioned Paul Hornsby much lately and Lucas was fairly certain it meant that his father had not answered his letter, or at least not in a favorable way. Lucas wanted to do something special for Dillon and he thought he might have just the right idea.

"Hey, just the guy I was looking for." Lucas said walking up to Dillon in the park. "We need to talk."

"Something good I hope." Dillon said a bit surprised. 'We need to talk' was ranked pretty high on the list of things you don't want your boyfriend to ever say to you.

"I think so." Lucas added. They walked around the park giving their conversation a bit more privacy. "We don't get to go out on dates."

"Because I'm still in the closet." Dillon finished the sentence. He wondered if it was hard for Lucas to give up bars and clubs to be with a guy he couldn't share those things with.

"It's ok. That's not what this is about. This is about us getting to do that and you not having to change the other part." They stepped deeper into the surrounding trees. Lucas held both of Dillon's hands, keeping his peripherals open for anyone approaching. "A friend of mine was telling me about the gay scene in Rochester. Apparently its great. Lots of clubs and bars and what not." He explained. "I thought we could go for the weekend. If you want to that is...I mean I'm sure you've seen enough teen movies for us to find a decent cover story."

"A whole weekend of not having to pretend we're not really a couple? Sounds great. Cover stories will be easy. My absence probably wouldn't even be noticed. They'll just think I'm in the East wing or something." Dillon joked.

"Yeah, my mom is so afraid I'm going to mope around the house and even more afraid that I'll think she's happy I'm not dating that I'm sure telling her I'm going away with some random friends will make her quite happy." Lucas added.

"Is she still having issues dealing?"

"She's dealing with it and she's accepted it to a degree, but she's also never had to see it. Like I never brought Guy home for an extended period of time, no displays of affection. She's trying and I appreciate that..." Lucas shrugged. He knew it could be worse. His mother was trying.

"Well when we're in Rochester, we won't have to worry about that."

Cover stories did work out relatively easy. Neither mentioned specifically who they were going with, but both said they were going to go camping for the weekend with some friends from school. They were old enough that follow up questions weren't extensive. The drive wasn't terribly long and even for a summer weekend traffic was tolerable. They were checking into a bed and breakfast. A couple of glances were earned from various people as they checked into a room with a king sized bed but they tried their best to ignore it. Lucas who had spent far too long in the closest not to enjoy being out now, took Dillon's hand in his as they headed up to their room.

"Well that was sufficiently scandalous." Dillon said laughing and flopping down on the bed. "Imagine if we were in Port Charles."

"Hey, I can see the headline: Quartermaine Heir Spotted With Spencer Relative." Lucas laid down beside Dillon, eyes mentally tracing the contours of the other man's face. "The past month has been so great, Dillon. Um...I'm...I'm falling in love with you." He admitted. He'd stopped himself from saying those words for too long.

"I think I'm falling in love with you too. I'm still not ready to tell people though. I don't want that to hurt you. Does it?" Dillon asked sliding closer to Lucas.

"I wouldn't make you come out. It doesn't hurt exactly. It's just hard...people trying to get me to hook up with someone or go on dates with people...I wish I could tell them I had found someone special, but it's ok. When and if you are ready, you'll be ready."

It almost felt strange to have such a normal time out for Dillon and Lucas. They went to dinner often even back in Port Charles, but it was always handled in a way that wouldn't seem odd—that meant no touching or smiling too much at each other. For once, they could sit and eat in a romantic sitting unworried about who might see them. After dinner they hit a couple of bars and clubs. It was late by the time they returned to the hotel. They both collapsed onto the bed. Lucas wrapped his arms around Dillon.

"I think this is the part I've been looking most forward too." They had never spent the night together. "I want to hold you all night." Lucas whispered his face buried in Dillon's hair.

"There's something else we've never done that we could do tonight." Dillon said quietly, almost shyly. "I'm ready to be with you."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Notes etc found in chapter one. Feedback is very welcome!

* * *

"I've been hoping you would say that for so long." Lucas whole face brightened. "I want you, Dillon." Lucas was often careful about saying these types of things to Dillon for fear that it might pressure him into something. Now he had been given a green light. 

Lucas pushed the hem of Dillon's shirt up, running his hand over the tight muscles of the young man's stomach with his palm. Dillon tensed under his touch, but it was not in a way that indicated he wanted to stop. Lucas closed his eyes savoring the moment. He moved closer to Dillon his lips making contact with the other man's sensitive neck. Hands explored one another hungrily and eventually Lucas helped Dillon pull his shirt up over his head. He leaned back for a moment removing his own shirt before returning to Dillon. He trailed kisses down his stomach stopping at the top of his jeans.

"Do you want to keep going?" Lucas asked.

"Yes..."

Lucas unbuttoned Dillon's jeans, slowly pulling the zipper down. He pushed them down off of his hips. Lucas changed position so that he could pull them the rest of the way off leaving Dillon in his boxers. Lucas stood up, removing his own jeans and tossing them aside.

"I'll be right back." He said quietly. He went over to his suitcase to retrieve a box of condoms and lube. He had hoped this would happen. "I came prepared."

"I was going to ask, but I didn't think there was a good way to do that." Dillon admitted. Lucas tossed the box of condoms and lube on the bed pausing a moment before taking his boxers off. Dillon looked adorably nervous and it made Lucas smile a little.

"Wanna take those off?" Lucas suggested motioning to Dillon's boxers. Dillon nodded slowly. Lucas was a little worried that he wasn't really ready for this, but he had promised to let it be Dillon's decision for better or worse. Dillon removed his boxers and it became evident that any nervousness wasn't for a lack of arousal, a fact that only increased Lucas's own. He climbed back onto the bed. He captured Dillon's mouth with his. "I love you."

"I love you." Dillon said his fingers moving into Lucas's hair as Lucas continued kissing and exploring his boyfriend's body. By the time they went to bed that night, they were officially lovers.

They slept late the next morning waking up in the early afternoon. Rain was pounding outside, beating down on the windows of the bed and breakfast. Dillon had only ever woken up with Georgie in his arms and that hadn't happened in a long time. It was much different to wake up with Lucas's arms around him, but he liked it. No, he loved it. He loved Lucas. He remembered saying the words. It seemed so unlikely. It had to be true, though. He'd never just say that. Lucas had said it too. Dillon's eyes focused on the form of a still sleeping Lucas until the other man's eyes began to flutter open.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Lucas asked groggily.

"I was enjoying the view." Dillon smirked. "I just woke up myself."

"Regretting anything?" Lucas asked.

"Why do you always do that? You always assume I'm going to regret it. Not just me either. Every time you do something, you think it's going to bite you on the ass." Dillon explained. "What's with that?"

"Cuz it usually does." Lucas sighed. "I definitely don't want to argue about it. I should give you more credit."

"No, you should give you more credit." He corrected making Lucas smile. "I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to head back today."

"Yeah, it's raining pretty hard. I doubt anyone will believe that a gay guy and a rich kid would spend the night in the pouring rain." Lucas laughed remembering they had claimed to be camping with a group of friends.

"But we're supposed to be farther away than Rochester and a campsite takes a while to pack up." Dillon said turning to face Lucas and propping his head up on his hand. "We can stay a little longer."

"This is true." Lucas grinned. "How about a shower?"

They showered and ate a late lunch before packing up to head back home. It was still raining and beginning to get dark when they hit the roads to get back to Port Charles. They had gotten on the highway for a while, but traffic was a bit intense and Lucas decided to take one of the side roads. They had both made this trip enough times to know the back roads pretty well.

"We should stop for dinner when we get back." Dillon remarked as he fiddled with the radio. Lucas glanced at him quickly before turning back to the road.

"Yeah. I could eat." Lucas smiled. "We should do this again soon."

"Definitely. Plus, now that we've moved to the next level, we're going to need more privacy."The next few minutes were a complete blur. Looking back, Lucas would remember laughing and then seeing lights off to the side, headlights where there shouldn't be headlights. He remembered the sound of metal hitting metal. Lucas would never forget how it felt to hit his head against the glass of the window, hard enough for it to crack at the point of impact. Worst of all he remembered that Dillon did make any noise. He didn't yell or cry out. He was silent.

"Dil-Dillon," Lucas struggled to say. "Wake up. Dillon!" He yelled. He was shaking as he looked for his cellphone. The person in the other car hadn't come to check on them, hadn't tried to move the car that had hit Dillon's side with force.

He managed to dial 911 and waited, trying to wake Dillon up the whole time. When he heard the sirens of the approaching ambulance he was relieved. The rise and fall of Dillon's chest kept Lucas calm, as long as Dillon was breathing, it would be ok.

Lucas longed to hold Dillon as they rode in the ambulance to General Hospital, but there were too many paramedics trying to see to Dillon. Lucas was still bleeding and every now and then it would get in his eyes, the warmth of it against his skin reminding him just how serious this was. Dillon hadn't regained consciousness. Lucas wasn't a doctor, but he'd been around enough as a kid to know that not waking up after an accident wasn't a good sign. _Please let him be ok, _Lucas said over and over. He couldn't lose him, not like this, not the same way he'd lost BJ. Lucas's throat tightened as he felt a lump rise in it. Dillon had to wake up. He couldn't leave the hospital knowing that the man he loved was lying in some hospital room with his heart cut out, which was what had ended up happening to BJ. Lucas didn't care about saving anyone else. He wanted Dillon.

The paramedics wheeled Dillon on a gurney into the ER and Lucas followed struggling to keep up.

"They were struck by a drunk driver, the other man was pronounced dead at the scene." The paramedics began filling in the doctor who met them. "Minor head wound," He motioned towards Lucas who looked much worse, he imagined, than he was from attempting to wipe the blood from the gash on his head away. "The other victim hasn't regained conciousness. Pupils are responsive, but his vitals are all over the place."

"It might be internal bleeding. We'll take him to a trauma room. Nurse," The doctor called over his shoulder. "Take him to triage."

"Oh God, Lucas!" It was Elizabeth. "What happened?"

"We were hit by a car. They said the guy was drunk. Dillon..." He watched as they moved Dillon away. "Wait! I want to go with you." He said walking quickly over to them. "I need to know he's ok."

"Lucas, they'll take care of him." Elizabeth assured him. "You need stitches and probably a CT to check for a concussion. Let's get you taken care of first."

"No! I'm not going anywhere until I know he's ok." Lucas said angrily fighting tears.

"I heard they brought Dillon in." Monica said running in from the elevator. "Do you know what happened? Lucas..." Monica noticed that the man was bleeding.

"We were in a car accident." He explained. "Liz, please, I just want to know what's going on before I go get checked out." He was pleading now feeling helpless.

"Ok, but sit down." Elizabeth guided him to a chair.

"I'm going to check on him." Monica said heading to the trauma room. "I'll let you know when I know something."

Elizabeth brought Lucas a towel, "You need to apply pressure to that wound. Your mom is working upstairs. I'm going to get her."

Lucas nodded, but flinched as he pressed on the wound. His head was killing him. Why didn't Monica know anything yet? If Dillon was going to be fine, they'd know by now. A small voice in the back of his head also pointed out that if they knew he was definitely not going to be ok, they'd know by now too. He had to be ok.

"Bobbie?" Elizabeth said quietly. Bobbie was talking to Noah Drake. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Lucas is downstairs."

"Lucas is camping." Bobbie said not quite following. "He's not coming back until tomorrow night."

"Uh...I think they came back early. They were in a car accident." Elizabeth explained. Bobbie's eyes went wide. "He's ok." She assured her. "He has a really bad gash and I think he's really shaken up, but he'll be fine. Dillon was in the car too..."

"Quartermaine?" Bobbie said not realizing he had been with her son. Elizabeth nodded.

"Dillon was unconscious and they're checking him over now. Lucas needs stitches, but he's waiting to hear about Dillon first."She explained.

"Oh God..." Bobbie's mind flooded back to BJ. She couldn't live through that again and she wouldn't want Lucas to have to lose a friend like that. "He's in the ER?"

"Yeah."

Before anything else could be said, Bobbie ran to the elevator and headed down to her son's aid.

"Sweetheart!" She said practically kneeling down in front of the chair Lucas was sitting in.

"Mom, can you please go see if Dillon is ok?" Lucas asked.

"I want to look at you first."

"I'm fine! Dillon wouldn't wake up. I..." Lucas nearly said something that would betray their secret. "What if it's...When they brought BJ in from her accident...I can't do that. Not with Dillon." He was talking more to himself.

"Ok, ok. Calm down." Bobbie said soothingly. "If I go ask how he is, will you let me check you over?"

"Y-yes, just..."

Bobbie nodded. She knew that he and Dillon hung out a lot and they had been roommates, but apparently they were closer than she thought. She headed to the trauma room.

"How's he doing?" Bobbie asked. Several doctors were working on him.

"He's hanging in there." Monica said. "He's bleeding internally. We need to get him up to surgery to stabilize him." She explained as they prepped the gurney.

"Keep me posted." Bobbie added before returning to Lucas.

Lucas was looking pale. Bobbie was worried he had a concussion. He needed stitches and a CT scan. Hopefully he'd listen to her if she told him about Dillon.

"Is he ok?" Lucas immediately perked up at the sight of his mother.

"He's hurt pretty badly, but they are taking him up to surgery. They are doing everything they can..."

"No, don't say that. That's what they always say in movies right before they lose the patient." Lucas felt tears in his eyes. He tried to hold them in, but soon they were falling, mingling with his blood. "I'm even talking like him now."

"Honey, I didn't mean that." Bobbie said holding Lucas by his shoulders. "But you are still bleeding. You need stitches. When he gets out of surgery, you'll want to be taken care of." Lucas seemed to be considering it a little more. "I'm going to get a wheel chair."

Lucas allowed his mother to take him to a room. Bobbie paged Noah who came down to handle the stitches. Bobbie knew she could have done it herself, but she was too shaken by the sight of Lucas's blood. They ordered a CT scan. Lucas hoped that by the time he got back from radiology, they'd have news about Dillon. His mom was waiting in his room, but she had no news. Noah returned not long after with the films.

"Ok, everything looks fine." Noah informed both of them. "I'd say based on the exam I gave you before, you have a very slight concussion. A little aspirin and some rest, you'll be fine." He looked at Bobbie attempting to comfort her.

"Thank you, Noah." Bobbie smiled warmly. "You need to rest." She reiterated. He looked much better now that the blood had been cleaned away, but he still looked tired.

"But Dillon..."

"I promise to wake you up, if I hear any news. I promise." Bobbie assured him pushing his hair away from his forehead. Something was going on, something more. This wasn't just concern for a friend. This was more, but now wasn't the time to ask. "Will you try to sleep?"

"I guess...He has to be ok." Lucas repeated as he laid down trying to do as his mother directed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Lucas?" Bobbie said gently to wake her son. His eyes blinked open and he sat up slowly. "Dillon's out of surgery. He should make a full recovery. You'll be able to see him soon."

"Thank God. It was so scary, Mom." Lucas rubbed his eyes wincing as he made contact with the gash on his forehead. "I kept thinking about BJ and I couldn't wake him up."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok. My head hurts a little, but nothing major." Lucas assured her.

"What's going on between you and Dillon Quartermaine?"

"Nothing. He's my friend."

"Lucas, I'm not completely stupid. I thought once you came out we would be past the secretiveness. I won't be angry, but please tell me where you really went this weekend. I don't think it was camping." Bobbie sat down on the edge of the cot. Lucas focused straight ahead, not looking at her.

"We went to Rochester." Lucas admitted. "We weren't doing anything dangerous."

"Then what were you doing that you felt you had to lie about it?"

"We're in love." Lucas looked at his mother. Bobbie sighed looking at her son with the concerned look she often got. "I mean it, Mom. And it's not one sided or just some stupid crush I have on a friend. We've been seeing each other since June. He's not ready for people to know. You can't tell anyone. That's why we went away. We wanted to be able to be a couple, a real couple for a few days." He explained, tears were pricking at his eyes. "We came back early because of the rain. We didn't think anyone would believe we'd stay camping in the rain."

"Oh, honey." Bobbie put an arm around Lucas. "It's nobodies fault, but the person who got in a car drunk. You didn't do anything wrong. Dillon's going to be ok. He's going to be sore for a while and he'll need to recover slowly, but he's going to wake up. This isn't like it was when BJ had her accident."

"I can't lose someone else I love, not like this. I just told him I loved him and he said it back. This weekend was the best weekend of my life. I--" Lucas's voice cracked as tears began to fall steadily.

"I had no idea. I was wondering what had been making you so happy the past few weeks." Bobbie held onto Lucas rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, I think you've earned the right to see him." Lucas wiped away his tears.

Bobbie led Lucas upstairs to Dillon's hospital room, "He's still sleeping and he probably will be for a while. Tracy went out of town for the weekend and Ned is in Manhattan. Monica and Alan have checked on him once or twice, but he really shouldn't be alone." Bobbie smiled at Lucas. "Tracy will be here in the morning and Ned is on his way now."

"Thanks, Mom." Lucas hugged his mother. "We'll talk more later. I'll tell you everything."

Lucas went into Dillon's dark hospital room. He could hear the beeping and ticking of machines. He hated those noises. He had no good memories of those noises or of these rooms. As he moved closer, he got a better look at Dillon. He was pale, a fact emphasized by the bruises he had on his face. Lucas fought back tears seeing the tubes hooked up to his lover. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong for Dillon. Lucas sat down in the chair next to the bed. He leant over taking hold of Dillon's hand as gently as possible.

"They said you're going to be ok." Lucas struggled to say calmly. "I'll be happier when you wake up. So you better wake up soon, got it."

Lucas barely moved over the next several hours. He dozed off with his head on the mattress near Dillon's hand, but that was the extent of moving. He woke when he felt fingers in his hair. He blinked his eyes open to see Dillon looking back at him.

"Oh thank God." Lucas felt like he might cry again. "I was so scared."

"I would say I was too, but I don't really remember what happened." Dillon said a bit raspy. "What did happen?"

"We got hit by a drunk driver just outside of town. I only hit my head, but the car hit us on your side. You got pretty banged up. They...um...had to remove your spleen to stop the internal bleeding. I thought you weren't going to make it." Lucas admitted emotionally.

"I'm ok. I just feel like I got hit by a car, which is apparently how I should feel." Dillon replied. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, like I said hit my head. They stitched me up and checked for a concussion. I'm fine." Lucas assured him. "Your mom is going to be here in the morning and Ned will probably be here soon. I'm going to tell them you're awake." Dillon held onto his hand.

"Stay. We can just press the call button." Dillon didn't want Lucas to be too far right now. He didn't like hospitals either. It was better with Lucas. "I love you."

"I love you." Lucas replied pressing the call button.

The doctor came in rather quickly followed by Monica Quartermaine clearly checking on her nephew. They talked mostly to each other in medical jargon that neither Dillon and Lucas was readily familiar with.

"What does that mean? He's ok, right?" Lucas chimed in from behind the doctors looking down with great concern on Dillon.

"Yes, he should be fine. He'll stay here for a few days to rest and then be ready to go home. You'll still have to take it easy, though." Monica said to Dillon. "Lucas, you should go home and get some sleep. You've had a pretty rough night yourself."

"O-ok." Lucas said hesitantly. Dillon smiled as a means of giving him an ok to go. "I'll come back in the morning." _I love you, _he mouthed when the doctors weren't looking.

Dillon smiled again, "See you tomorrow, man. I'm glad you're ok."

"Yeah, you too."

Lucas headed out of the room and for the nurses station to say goodbye to his mother before he left.

"Lucas, you were with Dillon right?" Ned asked stopping him on his way to the nurses' station.

"Y-yeah...He's awake." Lucas said still a little shaky. The image of Dillon in that bed still too vivid in his mind. "It was a drunk driver. He ran right into us...It was Dillon's side of the car..." Lucas bit his lip hard to calm himself down before Ned got suspicious.

"Thank God he's alright. And you. I'm going to go see him." Ned patted Lucas on the shoulder before heading off to Dillon's room.

"Hey, sweetie." Bobbie said spotting her son. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I'm ok. I'm tired. Dillon's awake. They said he'll be fine." Lucas filled her in.

"Great. I'm off in twenty minutes. Noah said it was fine for you to be discharged. I can drive you home, if you want."

"That sounds good. Not like my car's functioning anytime soon." Lucas pointed out. "Can we not talk about anything, though, until I've been able to sleep some more and until I talk to him about it."

"That seems fair." Bobbie agreed.

Monica filled Ned in on the extent of his brother's injuries. He couldn't believe he had needed surgery and all of that in such a short time. The fact that they were able to operate quickly was of course a very good thing for Dillon, but Ned felt badly that no one had been there.

"Actually, Lucas Jones stayed with him as long as anyone could have. He didn't even get his own injuries looked at until Dillon had been taken up to surgery. They've gotten close it would seem." Monica told him. "He was with him when he woke up too. I think it's probably for the best that Tracy isn't here yet. I'm sure the doctors felt better without her breathing down their necks."

"That's for sure." Ned agreed. "Can I go sit with him for a little while?"

"Of course, but don't stay too long. He really does need rest."

Ned went into Dillon's room. The younger man was awake if a little groggy clearly wishing he was anywhere, but in a hospital.

"Hey, sorry it took so long to get here." Ned said quietly.

"It's ok. They said I'm fine. Plus, I don't even remember much of it. Lucas filled me in, but it's kinda like a movie about someone else and not something that happened to me." Dillon explained. "Thanks for coming, though. Mom's on her way?"

"Yeah, she went to Paris on business, but she was going to come right back as soon as a jet could be prepared. She's worried sick." Ned told him.

"As much as we fight, I really do kinda want her to be here. I mean not that I didn't think she would..." He let the sentence trail off knowing Ned understood. "Did you see Lucas when you came in? Did he look ok to you?"

"Yeah, he's a little shaken up, but I think he's fine. He was worried about you." Ned answered.

"I couldn't tell if he was hurt worse than he was letting on." Dillon said. "I'm worried about him too." He paused. "I know this probably isn't the best time, but I need tell someone this and it isn't going to be Mom."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know we didn't really get a chance to know one another when you were a kid, but I'm your big brother and I'm here for you." Ned promised. Dillon nodded.

"You can't tell anyone else, you swear?"

"I swear. Dillon, whatever..."

"I'm dating someone." Dillon began.

"Is that it? I think it's great that you're moving on from Georgie. Do you need me to call them and tell them you're here?" Ned offered not seeing the big deal. Dillon shook his head.

"No, they were already here. It's..." Dillon took a deep breath. "I'm dating Lucas."

"Lucas? Lucas Jones?" Ned said rather surprised. "Dillon, are you telling me that you're..."

"Well, I mean it's pretty complicated. I'm not gay. I mean I loved Georgie. That wasn't just me fooling myself. I still like girls, but I like Lucas too. I love Lucas."

"I won't lie. I'm pretty surprised. How long..."

"A month. We went to Rochester for the weekend, to be alone. The accident happened on the way back." Dillon revealed. "I'm going to have to cover this with everybody else and I needed to tell someone."

"You know that I don't care if you're gay, straight or whatever. I understand why you don't want everyone to know right now, but I promise that if you need someone to talk to, you've got me."

"Thanks, man. I guess we should have realized lying about going on a camping trip was bound to end badly. You'd think I'd never seen a movie." Dillon yawned.

"Alright, buddy, you should get some sleep. Mother will no doubt be here in a few hours. I'll come check on you later, too." Ned said having noticed how tired Dillon was. It was only to be expected.

"Ok and...Thanks." Dillon added before he closed his eyes and began to drift back to sleep. Even in the hospital, or maybe particularly because he was in the hospital, Dillon missed being able to sleep in Lucas's arms even if they had only done that once.

Tracy arrived early the next morning. Dillon hadn't really been asleep very long since Ned had left, but he was feeling much more awake as the lingering anesthesia had worn off from the surgery. Dillon didn't want to admit it, but he was glad he had this to distract his mother. She had still been on him about Paul Hornsby and the ELQ board. Now that he had been hurt so badly, she was treating him like her little boy again, the way it had been when it had just been them. Monica explained everything that had been done to Dillon and the long term care involved. Tracy, of course, was as authoritative as ever demanding Dillon receive the best care. It was almost amusing to watch her be selfless. She had just gotten of a plane from Paris, though, and left Dillon to rest after a couple of hours.

"I got here like forty-five minutes ago, but your mom was here. I know it's cheesy, but I brought these." Lucas produced a small bouquet of flowers to add to the ones other people had sent as well as a few get well soon balloons. "How are you feeling?"

"Really sore, but they are giving me a lot of painkillers which is helping tremendously." Dillon joked. "How's your head?" He gestured to the gash.

"It's fine. Is your mom coming back?" Lucas asked sitting down on the edge of the bed longing to be close to Dillon.

"I told her to go home for a while. She's pretty jet lagged. Besides there's only so much of Tracy's motherly attention I can take." He half smiled. Lucas covered the other man's hand with his own. "Your attention on the other hand..."

"Ah, that would be the painkillers, I imagine." Lucas chuckled.

"There's something I have to tell you," Dillon shifted a little, causing a little wincing in pain. "I told Ned about us. He was pretty freaked, but not completely disturbed by it."

"My mom knows too. I think that's the only reason she let me stay with you last night." Lucas paused. "Maybe, if anything good is going to come out of this mess, it'll be a little more freedom for us. If only around my mom and Ned."

"The accident not withstanding I had an amazing weekend." Dillon said honestly.

"Me too. Best I've had in a long time." Lucas added. "I didn't mean to out you to my mom. It just came out because I was so freaked out, man."

"It's really ok. I can't imagine her telling my mom anyway. They can't even be in the same room without your mom threatening to bitch slap her to the Canadian border." Dillon laughed. "Ow...I forgot . Laughter is bad."

"Should I get a nurse or something?" Lucas asked with worry already half getting up.

"No, no...It just hurts when I move. Monica told me that'll be normal for a while." He assured him. "I tested my mom about the gay thing back when you first came out just to prove she's prejudiced. She didn't take it well. She kind of got the idea in her head that we were living together in the dorms at one point so we must have been a couple. I have a feeling if I tell her now, she'll assume she was right At least, I'm too old to get sent to Military School, though she may still be able to lock me in the North Wing."

"You think she'd kick you out?" Lucas asked remembering his fears.

"Don't know. I guess it's possible, but I'm still a Quartermaine heir and she wants me on that board voting her way. Ned won't let them disinherit me either and there's clauses about that—really complicated business-y things. My trust fund is in my hands already. All she'd be able to do is physically tell me to get out and that would mean Monica would have to agree since it's her house." Dillon explained. "I've been thinking about moving out of the mansion for a while again anyway. Getting an apartment...Somewhere where we could have privacy. I'll just tell them I want more peace and quiet to focus on school this fall."

"God knows that mansion is pretty insane." Lucas admitted. "I think my mom is going to want to talk more about what exactly is going on. I told her I had to ask you about it first. If she is sworn to secrecy, are you ok with me talking to her?"

"Of course, but I'd like to talk to her too." Dillon told him. "So it's perfectly clear we're in this together." He wrapped his fingers around Lucas's.

"I think that can be arranged." Lucas smiled. "You wanna get it over with? She's working." He was mostly joking.

"Yeah, go get her." Dillon replied.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, go. I don't want to be lying in this bed for god knows how long waiting to talk to your mom about us. It's bad enough thinking that about my family. It'll be fine and whatever she says, it won't change anything."

Lucas headed out into the corridor looking for his mother. He found her around the corner talking to Noah Drake. Lucas knew that they had a history, but he wasn't exactly sure what if anything was going on between them. He recognized the look on her face well enough. It was the one she used to have when she looked at Tony or even a few of her other boyfriends when he was growing up.

"Lucas, is everything alright?" Bobbie asked spotting her son. Lucas nodded. "This is Noah Drake, you remember him, right?"

"Uh...yeah...It's nice to see you Dr. Drake." Lucas said shaking his hand.

"Please, it's Noah." He smiled. "I'll see you later, Bobbie." He squeezed her shoulder before walking away.

"Was I interrupting?" Lucas said with a smirk.

"Of course, not. What's up, sweetie?" Bobbie asked brushing anymore talk of Noah Drake aside.

"Uh...I promised we would talk after we'd gotten some rest and what not." Lucas reminded her. "Can you take a break or something?"

"It just so happens I was about to take one when Noah stopped me. We can get coffee and talk." She suggested.

"That's great, but actually someone else wants to talk to you, too. Dillon wants to talk about all of this too." He watched as Bobbie stiffened slightly. "I know this is a lot and I know you are trying, but he's dealing with a lot too. I know you wouldn't want to make it harder for him."

"Ok, Lucas. I'll do my best." It wasn't the best answer, but it would have to do.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Notes are in Chapter 1. I changed the rating from M to T because I really didn't think it warranted the M. Feedback always welcome --L.

* * *

Dillon was alone when they got back to his room, which was convenient to say the least. Lucas sat back down on the edge of the bed while his mother sat down in the chair. 

"Hi, Ms. Spencer." Dillon greeted her.

"Hi, Dillon." Bobbie replied. "I'm glad you are doing so well. I checked around and they think you should be able to go home by the end of the week. I'm sure you're happy about that."

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of hospitals." Dillon smiled, but it faded quickly. "I know that Lucas told you about us. I just want you to know that when he said is completely true and mutual."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Dillon. Really, I do. And I wish I was able to just sit back and say I was happy about all of this, but it still scares me. I love you, Lucas. You are my son and nothing will ever change that. I'm just worried that you two don't really know what you're doing. I made enough mistakes when I was young, to know the damage that can be done." Bobbie admitted.

"I love you for worrying about me, Mom, and yeah I guess there are things about being gay that can make life harder, but pretending I'm straight was killing me. And I know it was killing you, too. You were always asking me what was wrong, why I couldn't talk to you and I know you blamed yourself for that because of everything that happened between you and Dad." Lucas was saying so many things that he'd wanted to say for so long. "After I was bashed, you told me you would never be ashamed of me and that you wanted me to share my life with you. I'm not expecting you to be totally fine with everything all of a sudden. I'm not naïve."

"I used to not understand why Lucas hadn't told us that he was gay a long time ago," Dillon interjected. "Now that I'm in a similar position, I get it. I'm sure it's different for me than it was for him, but I'm lucky because I'm not just in the dark and alone while dealing with this stuff. I've got him. I love your son, Ms. Spencer."

"And I love him. I don't expect you to sit back and say you are happy. I just want you to respect us and our relationship. You also need to know that Dillon shouldn't be forcibly outed like I was. You know, I know and Ned knows—that's it." Lucas had learned to be less aggressive in dealing with his mother from Lainey, but it was hard to not be automatically defensive.

"You're right and I will respect your wishes not to discuss you with anyone else. However, I won't actively lie, either. Given how well me and Tracey get along the chances of this subject coming up is slim to none. As a mother, though, I have to say that it's better knowing and having to work through our issues, than thinking there was something going on and not knowing what." Bobbie told them both. "You should rest, Dillon. I need to get back to work. Lucas, walk me back to the nurses' station?"

"Ok." He got the hint that she wanted a word with him easily. "I'll be back." He smiled at Dillon who nodded.

"I can tell you two care for each other a lot." Bobbie conceded. "I still want you to be careful with your heart and..." She trailed off.

"I know and I am on all fronts." Lucas swore. "Um...and I almost forgot. Someone else knows about us."

"Who?"

"Carly." Lucas cringed a little. "She walked in on us kissing. So if you really need to talk to someone, I guess you can talk to her."

"I'm glad you are trying, Mom. That's all I want." Lucas hugged his mother. "I still don't want him to be alone so..."

"Go ahead. I'll see you at home tonight."

Lucas returned to Dillon's room to find his lover fighting sleep. "You look tired." Lucas said quietly.

"I think it's the medication." Dillon yawned.

"Or getting hit by a car." Lucas brushed a piece of Dillon's hair away from his forehead. "I'm going to go and let you sleep. Call me any time if you need something or just need to talk."

"I will." Dillon paused. "One more thing before you go. When I told you I loved you, I thought I meant it. Now I know. I love you. Lucas Jones."

"I love you, Dillon Quartermaine." Lucas leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

Dillon was able to leave the hospital by the end of the week, though he was still more or less stuck in bed. Lucas kept him company as much as possible and the others were visiting a lot too. There friends had bought the camping trip with the guys story, but Lucas could tell Georgie was suspicious that something else was going on. She hadn't said anything, though, and he had no intention of bringing it up. Two weeks later, Dillon was more or less back to his normal self. He was glad to be able to get out of the house.

"What's with the newspaper?" Lucas asked sitting down at Dillon's table at Kelly's. He'd been working at the camp all day, but he had the night off from both jobs.

"Classifieds. I'm looking for an apartment." Dillon replied circling something in the paper. "I broke the news to my mom and the family this morning."

"And?"

"Everyone seemed pretty fine about it. Mom was a little less enthusiastic, but she has been every time I've moved out. I mean she was used to be being around as a kid. Not like with Ned."

"Understandable." Lucas nodded. "Anything look good?"

"There's a couple near campus that I'm going to check out." Near campus meant near to Lucas. "You wanna come? I mean I'm sort of assuming this will be sort of...our place. Not that I mean we should move in together. It's only been like two months, not even. I just..."

"Dillon, stop talking." Lucas chuckled. "I'd love to go look at apartments with you and I plan to spend plenty of time there. " He paused. "But I have something I have to do today and I really don't think it's something you're going to want to deal with."

"Try me." Dillon put the paper down and capped his pen. He grinned at his boyfriend.

"Ok." Lucas sighed. "Me and my mother take turns putting fresh flowers up at Dad and BJ's graves. It's kinda a downer and I have to do it before it gets dark."

"Oh," Dillon felt a little bad for pressing the subject. "You know, it's pretty late already. Probably won't be able to see these places til tomorrow morning. We could do your thing now and then get dinner. We can do my thing tomorrow when you get done with the camp."

"You really want to go to a cemetery with me?" Lucas was incredulous. He wouldn't volunteer to go with someone and he'd certainly never had anyone volunteer to go with him with the exception of Bobbie. Guy had never even heard about BJ. They had never been that close.

"I don't know that want is the right word. I doubt you want to go." Dillon pointed out. "But yeah, I'll go. Besides, I'm still sick of being indoors."

They headed out stopping on the way to buy flowers. Lucas remembered when he had given his mother that glass pig to put on BJ's grave on her birthday. He hadn't done that again after that year. It had been easier to forget especially once things started happening with Carly. He felt guilty about it now especially since Tony had died. That was when he and Bobbie promised to visit often. It hurt remembering how close they had been.

"The night of the accident all I could think about was BJ. She was the one I asked to look out for you, make sure you were ok." Lucas admitted to Dillon as he placed the flowers on the grave.

"I guess I should thank her then." Dillon remarked. Lucas put the other set of flowers on Tony's grave.

"My dad and BJ were close, really close. I mean he loved me and we had a good relationship when I was little, pretty much all the way through. But BJ was his daughter. She was his whole world for a while there before him and my mom got together, before they got me. He was never the same after she died." Lucas admitted possibly for the first time out loud. "We were close too. BJ was a great sister, but it's like I remember she was great, but I can't remember specific moments. I only remember when she died and my mom and dad told me she was..." His voice became emotional. "Going to live in heaven. I never even got to see her, say goodbye." A few tears escaped his eyes.

Dillon put his arm around Lucas's shoulders comfortingly. He didn't know what to say so he was quiet and let Lucas do the talking.

"I think about what it would be like if she hadn't died." He let out a bitter laugh. "Then I feel guilty for that! Because then Maxie would be dead. Sometimes I feel like this whole town is just some huge melodrama with life and death all fit into the same episodes." He paused. "I wish my dad was here. He was so understanding about me."

"I met your dad like two or three times when I was dating Georgie." Dillon spoke. He moved his arm from around Lucas's shoulders to hold his hand instead. "I really wish I could meet him now, as your boyfriend. I think he would have been cool about it, ya know? I mean we've yet to experience that. Someone who finds out and doesn't freak, or warn us off of one another."

Lucas let go of Dillon's hand and put his arm around his waist. He leaned close and kissed him gently. He knew they should be more careful in public, but he couldn't help it. The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them pulled him back to reality. He turned around to see his mother standing there.

"I didn't mean to interrupt." Bobbie entreated. "I wasn't sure if you'd gotten up here or not so I thought I would bring a few extra flowers just in case." Her tone was warm. "Hi, Dillon."

"Hi...Umm...I better go. Cook gets cranky when she has to heat food up for stragglers." Dillon excused himself. They could manage without going out to dinner and Lucas probably needed to talk to his mom. "Call me tonight." He added quietly.

"Yeah, of course. Bye." Lucas kissed him goodbye without even thinking about it. Dillon hurried off a little embarrassed. "Um..sorry, Mom. I wasn't trying to throw that in your face."

"I know and you shouldn't have to apologize for kissing him goodbye." Bobbie said honestly. "I heard what you said."

"How much of it?"  
"Wishing your dad was here. I wish he was here too." Bobbie stepped closer to Lucas and looked at the graves of their loved ones. "I think Dillon's right. Your father would be so happy for you. He had such a big heart. Even when he first met me, he was willing to look past so much. I don't know why I can't. But I realized something. That's my problem. It's not yours." She paused. "There's one thing we never did-you, me and your dad—that I think would have helped things a lot after BJ died. Maybe we could do it now."

"What?"

"Counseling. Together. Lucas, so many things have happened in your life that we tend to hide and try to forget about. BJ, Carly and everything that happened between and after. I regret not being able to set things right with Tony before he died. I wouldn't ever want either of us to regret that about our relationship."

"Can I ask you a question?" Lucas asked cautiously.

"Of course."

"Do you ever wish you hadn't adopted me? I mean you told me how there was other people who wanted me. Carly would never have been able to get so close to the family if she hadn't been watching me. You wouldn't have had me to deal with when BJ died. You wouldn't have to deal with me being gay." Lucas had honestly thought these things for so long, he was beginning to believe them without anyone else ever saying anything.

"You are my child, Lucas. You could never be anything else. A family has to deal with the good and the bad. And if I have done anything to make you doubt that, I'm sorrier than you can imagine." Bobbie said truthfully. "Anything I did was only because I wanted to make sure you were safe and not confused."

"I am safe and I'm not confused." Lucas reiterated for possibly the hundredth time. "I've always known on some level that I was gay. By the time, I was twelve I was already actively hiding it." He paused. "And I know that Dillon could wake up tomorrow and be over whatever he's dealing with or break up with me for a girl, but that's not me."

"I'm finally starting to fully understand that." Bobbie hugged her son. "I never meant to hurt you or make you think I didn't want you as a son. How about I call tomorrow and we'll schedule an appointment."

"That's a great idea." Lucas agreed. "I didn't make any of this easy on you either. I'm sorry."

"We've both apologized more than enough now, I think." Bobbie put the flowers she had brought down on the graves. "I really hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Nothing special. I told him I was coming here and he offered to come with me. We met up at Kelly's after I finished working at the camp."

"And I also hope that I didn't run him off. I wasn't trying to do that." She worried that's what Lucas thought.

"I don't think so. I think he was just giving us some time to talk." Lucas said. "I didn't think it either. Why don't we go to dinner?"

"I'd love to, sweetie." Bobbie smiled. "I wish you were here to go with us, BJ. And you, Tony. I wish we could be a family again."

"Me too." Lucas sighed.

Lucas was off to work at the camp bright and early the next morning. Bobbie had a rare day off and already had plans with Carly to visit with her and the boys. Bobbie hadn't mentioned Lucas and Dillon around her yet, but she thought she might see what Carly had to say. She was almost surprised that Carly had kept her mouth shut.

"Mama, you're early." Carly said opening the door. "Leticia has the boys out at the park right now. They'll be back in a little bit."

"Well, I have all day." Bobbie smiled. "I actually wanted to discuss something with you in private."

"Is everything ok?" Carly asked concerned.

"I think so. I know about Lucas and Dillon Quartermaine." Bobbie told her. "I could use someone else who knows to listen to me."

"Well, I'll listen, but I don't know what you're talking about." Carly had always been a good liar.

"Lucas told me you walked in on them kissing. He even gave me permission to talk about it with you after Dillon was in that accident. I hadn't had a chance, but..." Bobbie let the sentence trail off.

"Alright, I only lied because I've hurt Lucas a lot. I wouldn't want to break his trust now. We're just starting to get somewhat close." Carly admitted. She'd always wanted family after all. He was her brother.

"I'm sure he appreciates that." Bobbie assured her. "I just...I'm finally starting to fully accept that Lucas is gay, but there's things about Dillon..."

"You mean the fact that he's a Quartermaine? Don't worry I said the same thing to Lucas." Carly sat down on the sofa. "Besides, he had a front row seat when I went through hell with AJ. He knows."

"It's not just that. I mean he dated Brook Lynn for a while, but I know Ned is caring and compassionate. Plus Lois was around and she wouldn't let them get hurt." Bobbie paused. "Tracy on the other hand..."

"I know how they can be and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, let alone my brother. But as much as it pains me to say it, there are a few Quartermaine's that would look out for Lucas including Ned plus Luke would keep Tracey in check." Carly offered comfortingly. "He's not going to listen to you about this. He's in love and that changes how you see everything. We both know that. He knows how the Quartermaines are, but he's got blinders on at the moment. Are they planning to tell them anyway?"

"No, not as far as I know. Lucas still keeps me in the dark about a lot of things, which is mostly my fault. I have not handled this well, Carly."

"I find that so hard to believe." Carly shook her head with a small laugh. "You who took me in even after the things I did and have done since and loved me anyway. Anything you said or did was only said or done out of love. Lucas will understand that one day and in the mean time you seem to be doing better."

"Thanks. Dillon's a very nice boy too. I thought so when he was with Georgie..."

"But Georgie wasn't your son." Carly pointed out knowingly. "I don't know what I would do if it was Michael and Morgan. No body does till it happens."

"I know. They were at BJ and Tony's graves yesterday and when I walked up they were kissing." Bobbie explained. "It wasn't that I minded. It was strange, but...I'm worried they aren't being careful in public anymore. I'm afraid that's how the Quartermaines will find out, which will only hurt them."

"You might not like what I'm gonna say Mama, but I know it from personal experience." Carly took a deep breath. "If they aren't being careful, it might be because they want to get caught. They've been sneaking around for how long now? Two months. That's got to be exhausting and doesn't sound like they plan to end it any time soon."

A part of Bobbie, from her own experiences, knew that Carly was right.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Info can be found on chap. 1. Feedback is much appreciated!

* * *

"Hey Lucas," Georgie said walking into the gymnasium of the Community Center. It was open to the public even when activities were going on so it wasn't unusual to see people while at work for Lucas.

"Hey, cuz. What's up?" He asked with a grin. His kids were in the middle of playing a basketball game which basically meant he just had to sit there and watch.

"I wanted to talk to you and I figured you'd be here now."

"Couldn't it wait until tonight when I inevitably come to Kelly's? Not that I don't love seeing you." Lucas added not wanting her to think he didn't want her around.

"No, it couldn't."

"You seem pretty serious. What's going on?" Lucas asked concerned.

"I overheard something yesterday at Kelly's. I wasn't eavesdropping or anything. That's totally more Maxie's thing. Anyway, I heard you and Dillon talking." She forced the words out and Lucas stiffened.

"What did you hear?"

"Something about you guys going to look at apartments. Looking for your place." Georgie looked at her hands.

"Neither of us wanted you to find out this way." Lucas swore.

"Then you guys are..."

"Yeah...Georgie, I swear we didn't want to hurt you. Dillon loved you, ok? He's made that really clear. He wasn't using you or anything. He isn't gay, if anything he's Bi." Lucas said quickly before Georgie could get upset.

"It's just so hard to think of your guys being together...together." Georgie felt guilty. "I know that sounds awful. I should understand that some people are just that way, but it's weird when it's my ex-husband and my cousin."

"You don't have to think about us and you definitely don't need to feel bad." Lucas assured her. "I just don't want you to hate us. To hate me. Not after everything that you did for me when I was in the closet."

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you." Georgie hugged him. "I don't hate Dillon either. It's not like I'm not dating someone else too. I love Spinelli. He's so sweet and goofy. Dillon and I have moved on. If you two make each other happy, great. It's just not something I ever thought would happen."

"If it helps, I never did either."

"How long?"

"Two months." Lucas said. "Just about. He kissed me on his birthday. I flipped out, but we worked things out. Georgie, I love him."

"Yeah me too." She forced a smile. "Who else knows?"

"You, my mom and Ned. Oh and Carly..."

"You told Carly before me?" Georgie said a bit hurt. Lucas shook his head.

"Definitely not. Carly walked in when we were kissing." Lucas paused. "We went to Rochester on a date. That's when the accident happened."

"Oh Lucas, that's awful." Georgie hugged him again. "So you guys are moving in together?"

"Not quite. Dillon's moving out of the mansion. I'll still be in the dorms, but..." He didn't have to finish. Georgie nodded. "Please don't look at me or him differently."

"I wouldn't do that to you. I love you both way too much." Georgie said. "I'm going to go talk to Dillon about this, if that's ok with you."

"Yeah, sure. He's your friend and you know now so..." Lucas shrugged.

"Just so you know, I'm not weirded out about the guy/guy part of this. It's more the cousin/ex-husband part. It would be weird if it were him and Maxie or you and Maxie or any other combination of family members."

"I understand. Really, I do." Lucas looked over as his group of kids were finishing up their game. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later." Georgie nodded before turning to go.

Georgie called Dillon and he agreed to meet her at Kelly's before her afternoon shift. She was more nervous about talking to him than she had been about Lucas. Certain things were just odd between them as ex-spouses.

"Hey, Georgie. What's up? You sounded kinda weird on the phone." Dillon asked sitting down. "And you have that Georgie's concerned look on your face."

"I know." She blurted out.

"You know. What?" Dillon shook his head confused.

"I heard you and Lucas talking and I asked Lucas about it...I know." She explained as well as she could given the circumstances.

"Oh...OH!" Dillon said Georgie's statement finally clicking in his head. "God, Georgie, I did not want you to find out that way."

"I know. Lucas filled me in on everything." Georgie half smiled. "I wish you guys would have told me. How long have you felt this way about Lucas?"

"Not long before we got together. It wasn't like I was crushing on him when we were together." He reached for Georgie's hands. "That's absolutely not what was going on."

"Ok, I know it sounds stupid to think that. I should no better." Georgie admitted. "What we had was amazing, Dillon, and I hope that whatever you and Lucas have can be half as amazing because that's more than most people get."

"You are possibly the most understanding person ever. Thank you."

Dillon went to meet Lucas at the community center when he was getting off from work. They were planning to go look at a couple of the apartments that Dillon thought would be good for his new place. As far as Lucas could tell, all of the places were amazing and well above any price range he could even consider. These weren't typical college apartments. These weren't typical apartments at all. They reminded him more of the penthouse where Sonny and Carly used to live. They were practically the same size as the first floor of the Brownstone for that matter.

"What do you think?" Dillon asked tossing a glance at Lucas. They were standing in the middle of a loft apartment located on the far side of the PCU campus. If the Realtor knew they were a couple, she hadn't let on.

"I think it's great. They are all great." Lucas said with a grin. Dillon looked around a little.

"Why don't I give you a minute to look around?" The realtor left them alone for a few minutes.

"I know they're all nice, but..." Dillon walked over to the window and looked out over the city.

"But what, Dillon?"

"Is it home? Would you feel at home here?" Dillon asked. Lucas walked up behind Dillon at the window. He put his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his lover's shoulder looking at the view.

"If you're there, it'll be home." Lucas kissed his neck.

"Then, I think we've found the place." Dillon turned his head so that he could return the kiss, but on Lucas's lips.

Dillon made an offer on the apartment, one that was very close to the asking price, which made it quite likely they would be able to get the place.

"I can't believe you may actually own an apartment in the next few days." Lucas remarked as Dillon drove them back towards the Brownstone.

"I know. I'm such an adult." Dillon rolled his eyes. "Well, at least we won't have people walking in on us in the future."

"I don't know. Carly has no boundaries. Just because we're at your place..." Lucas joked. "I almost feel bad that I'll be paying for PCU housing. I don't think I'll be spending much time there."

"Your roommate will love you."

"True." Lucas looked out the window still grinning.

"You...um...You could just move in with me. I mean instead of on campus housing." Dillon focused on the road not wanting to know Lucas's reaction for fear he wasn't thrilled with the idea. "We know that we can live together. We did it before. The only difference would be the sleeping arrangements. I don't know. It was just an idea."

"It's a good idea." Lucas interjected. "A great idea. I don't know if my mother will see it that way, though. And what about your family?"

"What about them? They aren't going to come there like ever. They wouldn't have to know the arrangements." Dillon paused. "Besides, I was thinking once everything is lined up for me to move, I'd tell them."

"You really want to tell them you are dating a man and you're going to live with him and oh yeah, he's related to the Spencers?" Lucas said in disbelief.

"Look, can't we talk to your mom first and see what she has to say about the idea." Dillon said not answering Lucas's question.

"Fine."

Lucas told his mother that he and Dillon wanted to have dinner with her the next evening. She was a little surprised, but agreed happily. She had been working through her acceptance issues regarding Lucas's sexual orientation and she hoped getting to know Dillon better might help her all the more. Lucas appreciated her open mindedness, but he also worried that she still wouldn't be ready to accept that he wanted to live with him. He didn't need her permission as such, but he wanted it. Lucas cooked dinner and he and Dillon had it on the table by the time Bobbie got in from work.

"Everything looks delicious." Bobbie said smiling at the boys. "It was very thoughtful of you two to suggest this."

Dillon and Lucas exchanged looks. Dillon reached for Lucas's hand under the table.

"We actually had a slight ulterior motive." Lucas confessed.

"It was my idea." Dillon added feeling a bit like a small child for some unknown reason.

"It was _our _idea." Lucas amended. "Dillon is moving out of the mansion. He put an offer on a place we looked at yesterday."

"Well that's great." Bobbie offered not quite putting two and two together. "You should be moving out on your own."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Lucas began. "I want to move in there with him instead of moving back to the dorms."

"Um...isn't this a little sudden?" Bobbie sipped her drink suddenly feeling her mouth go dry. She hadn't thought about her son moving out on a permanent basis before let alone moving in with someone.

"By the time we get it all worked out, it's going to be the end of August." Lucas pointed out. "It'll be our three month anniversary." He grinned at Dillon squeezing his hand under the table.

"W-what about your family?" Bobbie asked.

"Um..That's a good point." Dillon admitted. "I'm planning to tell them when I move out. We won't be hiding anymore."

"We need to discuss rent and how much it'll cost compared to the dorms."

"We'll share the costs of living like we did in the dorms." Lucas said.

"But we won't be renting the place." Dillon added. "I'm buying it. Rent won't be a problem. I mean we can split utilities and that kind of stuff, but I'd be there regardlessly so..."

"This is what you want?"

"Yes." Lucas said sincerely.

Bobbie wasn't foolish. She knew that Lucas could do as he pleased. He was asking her as a courtesy. Considering Dillon didn't even need rent money, proved that Lucas wouldn't need help from her or anything. It would also save on loans living off campus. Bobbie sighed.

"Then you have my blessing."

Dillon got word that his offer had been accepted two weeks later. He and Lucas would be able to move in on August 25th two days before school started. They still hadn't broken the news to the Quartermaines and Lucas felt no need to pressure Dillon into that. He was moving in anyway so it didn't really matter. He had helped Dillon pack his stuff up at the mansion and then Dillon came to help him move his stuff over. Everything was ready to go. It was the emptiest Lucas's room had ever been. As he was checking for any last things he wanted to take over, Bobbie walked in.

"Are you leaving yet?"

"Dillon's going to call me once he has the keys. Everything's over there, just last minute stuff with the landlord." Lucas explained. "You're still ok with this, right? Cuz it's a bit late to call it off." He added sarcastically.

"I'm just having a mom moment." Bobbie said putting an arm around her son.

"I'm only moving across town. I'll be here all the time." Lucas assured her. She hadn't been this emotional when he'd gone to the dorms the first time.

"You say that, but we both know it's not true." Bobbie pointed out. "And you are a grown man now and you should be moving out. I'm just not used to one of my kids, the only one who I've watched grow up, move out and in with someone they love."

"I know and you've been great about this. Really, you have." Lucas said. "Once everything is settled there, you have to come see it. The place is amazing."

"You've mentioned that once or twice. I love you, sweetheart." She hugged him warmly.

"I know, Mom. Love you, too." Lucas grinned. "And without me here, you and Noah Drake can have some privacy."

"Lucas! We are friends and nothing more." Bobbie laughed. Lucas phone began to ring.

"It's Dillon." He told her as he opened his phone. "Hey, babe. Yep, ready to go. See you in a few." He hung up. "Looks like he'll be here in a few minutes."

"Then you better get ready to go."

Dillon pulled up out front. Lucas would bring his car over the next day once they had another set of keys made up. Dillon was so happy to be out of the mansion and have all the freedom he could want, at least when it came to Lucas. Lucas was just as thrilled. Bobbie had been giving them a little leeway, but they still hadn't spent the night together in a long time. They wouldn't want to make Bobbie uncomfortable. As it was, they felt guilty for the trysts they did have when she was working nights or sometimes in the afternoon.

"Here we are." Dillon said as he opened the door. The had hired movers who had brought their boxes over ahead of schedule. There was still no furniture, just stacks of boxes and a bed in the bedroom.

"Here," Lucas kissed Dillon hotly on the mouth as they closed the door. "We are."

"Mmhmm..." Dillon returned the kiss. "Not that there's much to do since there's nowhere to put anything away yet."

"I can think of things I'd rather do now that I have you alone besides unpack." Lucas paused. "Although, where are the pillows and blankets? I don't think the floor will be too comfortable." He teased wrapping his arms around Dillon's waist.

"Now that I like the sound of."

They pushed the boxes around the room until they found the assorted bedding. They tossed a myriad of pillows and blankets down onto the floor before they settled down onto it.

"We live here." Lucas said sliding close to Dillon. They were both lying on their sides. Lucas put a hand on Dillon's hip pulling him towards him.

"We do." They kissed once more. Lucas lay there on the floor, holding Dillon, running his fingers through his hair and along the contours of his face. "This is perfect."

"I don't know about perfect." Dillon remarked running his hand down Lucas's side. "We are lying on the floor in an unfurnished apartment." He smiled. "But it's close."

"Mmm...Leave it to the rich kid to need luxuries like furniture."

"Haha..." Dillon rolled his eyes before kissing Lucas again. "I'm starving. How about we order pizza and just stay in tonight."

"Let's."

Dillon stood up looking for his phone. Lucas watched him lovingly as he walked around the room. This was perfect.

Dillon paid the delivery guy for the pizza and came back into the living room. He placed the pizza box down on the floor and sat down beside Lucas.

"I can't wait until the furniture gets here." Dillon remarked looking around the empty room.

"At least there's a bed." Lucas smirked opening the box and grabbing a slice of pizza.

"This is true." Dillon picked up a piece of pizza. "And the chances of someone showing up is slim."

"Also a valid point." Lucas took a few bits of pizza and sat the slice back down in the box. "It's kinda weird not having to keep one ear open for the door or waiting for someone to barge in." He slid a little closer to Dillon. "Good weird."

"I know what you mean." He put an arm around Lucas. "I realize we aren't exactly moved in yet, but you staying tonight?"

"What do you think?" Lucas leaned against Dillon, while picking up his pizza again. "We finally get to spend an entire night together. I wouldn't miss it for anything. I mean we haven't been this totally alone and totally free since Rochester."

"Yeah, that feels like so long ago. Like years."

"I still have nightmares about it." Lucas admitted refusing to look at Dillon.

"Seriously?" Lucas had never told Dillon this before. Dillon still barely remembered the accident. He hadn't experienced it like Lucas had.

"Yeah, I see you lying there in the car and you won't wake up and there's...blood." Lucas shook his head. "I could have lost you. That scares me."

"Hey, I'm right here. You aren't going to lose me." Dillon kissed his temple. "I love you."

"I know." Lucas smiled finally bringing himself to look at Lucas again. "Love you"

They ate in relative silence from there on out, but Dillon's arm remained around Lucas.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Notes etc...Chapter 1. Expect some delays between chapters due to my real life commitments. Feedback always welcome!

* * *

Lucas and Dillon finished eating dinner and headed to the bedroom, blankets and pillows in tow. They made the bed up, but it didn't stay that way for very long. They made love for the first time since Rochester. Sure, they'd been able to have sex between then and now, but not like this. This was slow and drawn out. They weren't hurrying to make sure they were clothed before Bobbie came back from work or someone found them in Dillon's room. They were thrilled to be able to kiss and touch and taste, exploring one another fully.

"I'm not getting up to remake this bed." Lucas remarked as they lay in one another's arms.

"Me neither. It'll work." Dillon laughed. Lucas was resting his head on Dillon's chest. Dillon's arm was wrapped around him rubbing his shoulder. "We'll just have to remember this for future reference. Make the bed after we have sex."

"There's a good lesson in there somewhere." Lucas chuckled. "God, I wish this summer didn't have to end."

"Ugh, don't remind me that we have class in...Two days." Dillon sighed.

"Until someone puts a camera in your hand. Then you'll be thrilled to be back." Lucas teased. He lifted his chin to look up at Dillon.

"At least now I can have a live in tutor for all my other classes." Dillon joked in return. "I'll handle my film classes and you can help me with everything else, Mr. Dean's List."

"I had to do something to keep my parents off my back for not going pre-med." Lucas remarked. "Too bad I hate blood."

"English major still trumps film student in the reliable career field." Dillon pointed out.

"Ah, yes, and getting a job is a priority and a problem for you." Lucas rolled his eyes. "Though knowing how the Quartermaines are I'm not sure the trust fund is worth it."

"Me neither except that it means we get to live here."

"I still feel a little weird about that. I mean the whole me not paying rent thing. I know we're living together, but..."

"I hate talking about money." Dillon said quietly. "Can we just forget about money? You aren't renting from me so you don't pay rent. We live here, end of story."

"Ok, but only because it's two in the morning." Lucas closed his eyes.

"Ok." Dillon laughed lightly wrapping his arm tighter around Lucas. He closed his own eyes.

Dillon was woken to the sound of Lucas talking in his sleep. The other man was tossing and turning with growing ferocity. The first signs of light were streaming in the window. They had to have been asleep for a little while at least. Dillon reached over and shook Lucas a little.

"Lucas...Babe..." He said groggily trying to wake him up. Lucas's eyes fluttered open. "You weren't kidding about those nightmares." He smoothed his lover's hair.

"Oh..." Lucas rubbed his eyes. "Sorry...I..."

"Don't apologize. Do you need anything? Water or..." Dillon asked not sure what to do for Lucas. He shook his head. "Ok, then talk to me. Was it about the accident?"

"Yeah, you didn't make it." Lucas touched his forehead. He had a faint scar leftover from his injuries in the accident. "I'm so afraid that one day I'll wake up from that dream and realize it wasn't a dream."

"It was a dream." Dillon slid closer to Lucas. "Come here." He wrapped his arms around Lucas, resting their foreheads together. "I'm fine. You're fine. Everything is fine."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Lucas offered lamely.

"You think you can go back to sleep?" Dillon asked running a hand through Lucas's hair.

"Yeah...I can usually get back to sleep ok." Lucas was embarrassed. He'd hoped the dreams would stop especially now that Dillon was here.

"We can talk if you want. Not like we have to get up early tomorrow or anything. Well today--" Dillon suggested.

"No, just hold me." Lucas said softly still embarrassed.

"That I can do." Dillon nestled against him keeping his embrace tight. "Better?"

"Much."

The pair had planned to sleep in the next day. After all, pretty soon they'd have morning classes and late nights and no time to just lay in. They were both still asleep when the sound of someone knocking on the door filled the room. Dillon groaned. So much for no one bothering them here.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dillon said annoyed kicking the covers off.

"It's probably the furniture." Lucas pointed out. Dillon pulled on boxers and a t-shirt before heading to the door. Lucas did the same.

"I'm looking for Dillon H—Quartermaine." The man on the other side of the door said. Dillon's breath caught in the back of his throat.

"Uh...You found him." Dillon felt his chest tighten. "Paul..."

"Maybe I should have given Tracy more credit. I didn't think you'd even know what I looked like." Paul admitted.

"Babe, is it the furniture?" Lucas asked walking out from the bedroom. He hadn't recognized the voice so he thought it was safe to come out. He was only wearing his boxers.

"Uh...no, not the furniture." Dillon said in a bit of a daze. Lucas walked over wondering if they had officially been caught. "It's my father." He finally looked away from Paul to Lucas.

"Paul Hornsby." Paul tried to pretend that a half naked man calling his son babe wasn't unsettling. He extended a hand to Lucas.

"I know. I'm Lucas Jones. Bobbie and Tony's son." Lucas shook Paul's hand.

"Wow, I remember you from Mac and Felicia's wedding when I ended up marrying Jenny." Paul said as he retracted his hand. "You didn't mention in your letter that you were..."

"Yeah, well I had other things on my mind like why my long lost father is writing to me." Dillon said sarcastically. "Lucas is my boyfriend."

"I'm going to get dressed." Lucas said excusing himself from a rather awkward situation. He wondered if Paul would turn around and tell Tracy about Dillon's boyfriend. It had been risky telling him.

"I was hoping we could get breakfast and talk. I'd like to get to know you." Paul offered. He seemed sincere, but Dillon wasn't sure that was enough.

"I can't do this now. I need to think."

"I'm staying at the Metro Court. I'll be here until the end of the week." Dillon started closing the door, but Paul stopped him. "I've been out of the country on business. I just got your letter last week."

"What?"

"I was in France. Since June. We didn't get back until last week. I got your letter and I was going to call, but it seemed like there was too much to say. I came as soon as I could." Paul explained. Dillon was still stuck between closing the door and pushing Paul out. "I always wanted to be in your life, Dillon."

"Then why weren't you? And don't say because of my mother because you didn't try very hard to get visitation." Dillon was angrier than he wanted to show.

"It took two years to hunt you down and I couldn't get near you because of Tracy. By the time, I would have seen you, you were three and you didn't know me."

"I remember you leaving. I knew who you were."

"I'm sorry. I..."

"Like I said, I can't do this now." Dillon reiterated. Paul nodded looking defeated.

Dillon closed the door the rest of the way and leaned against it for a long moment. He headed back into the bedroom where Lucas was waiting for him.

"You ok?" Lucas asked. Dillon nodded.

"I want to go tell them." Dillon said as he got dressed.

"It's probably a good idea." Lucas remarked as he buttoned his shirt. "Your mom will freak if she finds out your dad saw you and you didn't even tell her he was in town."

"No," Dillon turned to look at him. "Not about Paul. About us."

"Dillon, you don't have to do that. I don't think Paul is going to out us to your mother. I think you're safe."

"I don't care about that. I said I would tell them when I was moving out." Dillon said. "That was my plan and there is no reason to back down from it now. Everyone else knows. Your mom, Georgie, Ned...If I tell them, we don't have to hide anymore."

"You know nothing would make me happier, but it has to be your decision." Lucas reminded him. "I don't want you doing something that big because you think I need you, too. Things are fine the way they are."

"But they could be better." Dillon was serious about this. That much was clear. "Will you come with me? I don't know if Ned's in town and I want a friendly face."

"Of course." Lucas hugged Dillon. "No matter what they say or do, you've got me."

"I know. Let's go."

Dillon was a little relieved that all of the Quartermaines weren't gathered in the mansion at this particular moment. Alan and Monica were working and Edward was somewhere other than at the mansion. As it turned out, Tracy and Emily were the only ones there. Dillon was kind of relieved that Emily was there. She had a way of being understanding.

"Mom, I need to talk to you."

"If its about Paul Hornsby, he came here looking for you and I told him you no longer lived here." Tracy remarked. She seemed rather displeased at having seen him again.

"I didn't know he was coming." Dillon paused. "It's not that. I...I'm gay." He still didn't consider himself gay, but it was easier to say than Bi.

"Not this again. Dillon, I know what you are trying to do. Make me feel guilty by saying this nonsense." Tracy waved the statement off.

"No, Mom, really. I'm gay. I'm dating Lucas." He reached for Lucas's hand.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Tracy exclaimed. "You switch teams and you can't manage to find somebody from a different family than your ex-wife? This is unbelievable!"

"Tracy!" Emily exclaimed. "That's all you have to say?"

"Please, he's not gay." Tracy said rolling her eyes. She couldn't believe Emily was falling for this. "He's just trying to get a rise out of me. It's not the first time."

"That's true, Mom. But this time it's the truth." Dillon assured her.

"You can ask my mom. She already knows." Lucas interjected. Tracy's jaw dropped nearly all the way to the floor.

"No, no," Tracy said confidently. "I refuse to accept this."

"That's great, but it won't make it untrue. We're living together."

"Congratulations." Emily said warmly. "You sound very happy."

"You are ever the saint, Emily." Tracy folded her arms. "I don't know what you're up to, Dillon, but I am appalled that you would pull this kind of a stunt on top of dragging your father up here. There's a board meeting tomorrow and I want you whipped back into shape by then, got it?"

"Ok, first of all, I did not tell Paul Hornsby to come here. I was as surprised as you were to see him. I can tell that none of this is getting through to you. We're going to go, but when I see you at the board meeting tomorrow, this," He put his arm around Lucas's shoulders, "Is still going to be true."

As they left the mansion, it seemed that Tracy was still confident that this was a sick joke on Dillon's part. When would she get that he didn't find anything about this funny? Why would he joke about this?

"Well, congratulations," Lucas said as they got into Dillon's car. "You're officially out."

"It didn't go quite as I expected it to." Dillon remarked.

"I have to admit I expected a lot more yelling." Lucas chuckled. "You think she's going to blast you tomorrow when this sinks in?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. It doesn't matter. If it isn't about this, it'll be about Paul. At least, Ned will be here. I'm not looking forward to Grandfather finding out. Mom learned her sense of tact from him." Dillon said as he drove back toward their apartment.

"Are you sure you want to go home?"

"What do you mean? You have something you need to do?"

"I think you do. The Metro Court maybe."


	9. Chapter 9

Notes in chapter one, feedback always welcome!

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Lucas asked.

"What do you mean? You have something you need to do?"

"I think you do. The Metro Court maybe."

Dillon shook his head, "No, no. I-I just can't deal with him right now. He'll be here for the whole week."

"Dillon, listen to me. You are going to want to see him more than once and you only have a week." Lucas said reasonably.

"You don't know that. Right now I'm wishing I never wrote to him."

"I'll come with you." Lucas offered.

"It's not that I need someone to hold my hand, Lucas." Dillon snapped.

"Sorry, I guess the fact that you wanted me to hold your hand not more than an hour ago threw me off. My mistake."

"Are we going to fight about this? Because that's also my list of things I don't need right now."

"We're not fighting. I'm telling you that you'll regret it if you don't handle things with him." Lucas looked away and focused on the passing scenery.

"Just...not today. Ok?" Dillon said wearily. "Can't we just be happy today? I'm out, ok? This is a big deal for us. I don't want to spend today dealing with my father when I could be spending it with you going on a date."

"First thing tomorrow?" Lucas offered trying to compromise.

"We'll see." The rest of the ride was silent. Lucas was forced to drop the subject for a while when they got home to find the movers bringing the furniture up to the apartment. The rest of the afternoon was spent starting to put the rooms in order.

"What do you think?" Dillon said plopping down in one of their newly placed chairs. "Is it good? Are we officially moved in?"

"I'd say so." Lucas sat down on the arm of the chair. He ran his fingers into Dillon's hair before leaning down to kiss him. He slipped from the arm into Dillon's lap."I can't believe it's been almost three months."

"I can't believe the summer is over." Dillon remarked. Lucas hit his arm lightly. "Or that it's been three months." He cupped Lucas cheek with his hand pulling him in for another long kiss. "Now for an official date in Port Charles."

"You sure? You don't want to keep things low key still?"

"No. My mom knows, my father knows, your family knows, Georgie knows. So no more hiding." Dillon said firmly. Lucas smiled. "So where are we going to go? Not Kelly's..." He didn't say the MetroCourt, but it wasn't like he wanted to run into Paul tonight.

"I have an idea." Lucas smiled that smile he reserved for when he was up to something. "I'll drive."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Dillon had never been to The Outback. He didn't even know what it was. Granted it had much fewer teenagers hanging around than Kelly's did since the bar was fairly dominant. It also was classier than Jake's. It was a date place. The kind of place that the couple had been avoiding all of this time, especially those owned by family members. Mac and Felicia were rarely there anymore, but there was still a chance. It didn't matter now. Lucas entangled his fingers with Dillon's as they looked at the menus relieved that he didn't pull away. He never had before, but with them, sometimes it felt like the rules were always changing.

"You're looking very serious." Dillon said as he looked over the menu.

"Sorry, just thinking." Lucas tried to stop thinking that Dillon was bound to push him away any second. He wondered if Dillon would get bored now that they weren't sneaking around.

"School doesn't start for a few more days yet. Let's keep the thinking down to a minimum." Dillon sat the menu down and leaned over to kiss Lucas. They heard some murmuring from a few of the people dining near them. Lucas was used to it and Dillon had experienced it a few times in Rochester, but it didn't make it hurt any less. "We need drinks."

"Agreed."

They ordered some wine along with their dinner tuning out anyone around them.

"Hey, Lucas," Mac said walking over to their table. "I came to check on the books and a few of the wait staff said my nephew was here." He looked at Dillon. "I'm kind of surprised to see you guys here together."

"Yeah, um...About that Uncle Mac," Lucas glanced at Dillon to be sure he was ok with this. He seemed fine. "Dillon and I are here together."

"Together?" Mac questioned. Lucas reached for Dillon's hand. He was fairly sure that Mac knew about him, but at least this would resolve the whole thing quickly. "Together." He repeated.

"Yeah...uh...we've been dating for three months." Dillon interjected. "Georgie knows." It seemed like a necessary tidbit to include. Mac just nodded a little.

"Does your mother..."

"Yes." Lucas replied. "We haven't really been broadcasting it, but a lot of people know."

"Right, well, good for you." He clearly didn't know what else to say. "It's on the house. See you guys around."

"Later, Mac." Lucas said with a smile.

"Well, that was better than when he found out about me and Georgie." Dillon joked. "Let's finish so we can head home." Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Definitely."

Things at home heated up almost as soon as they walked in the door. In fact, the trip up to their apartment in the elevator had already been heating up. Lucas closed the front door behind him and almost immediately Dillon pushed him back against it assaulting his lips with his own. Maybe it had been the random remarks of bystanders about their minor displays of affection, maybe it was just excitement about being officially out, but whatever it was, Dillon was being the most forceful he'd been since they had hooked up. Lucas usually took the lead. He had the experience. Everything was always about making sure Dillon was ok and comfortable. But now that wall was gone and Dillon was showing him that he no longer had to worry about him freaking out about being with a guy. Lucas hadn't realized how much he'd needed Dillon to take control until he did.

"God, Dillon..." Lucas moaned as they moved toward the bedroom. "Don't stop."

"Not planning it." Dillon pushed his hands up under Lucas's shirt running his fingers over the tight muscles there. He took a step back and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off. "You are so hot."

"You're not so bad yourself." Lucas pulled Dillon's shirt off. They tumbled onto the bed. They paused just long enough for both to take their shoes off before they returned their attentions to each other. They kissed and touched, taking their time. "Dillon," Lucas began quietly, breathily. He traced the line of Dillon's cheek with his fingers.

"What?"

"I want you inside of me."

"You sure?" Dillon had never topped before. Lucas had just been the more logical top before.

"Of course." Lucas stroked his cheek. Dillon kissed him roughly. He moved his fingers down to the top of Dillon's jeans unbuttoning them.

"That was amazing." Lucas said when they had finished making love.

"Yeah, it was." Dillon agreed. "I think we could both use a shower."

"I agree." Lucas smirked. "But the big question is together or separately. Because together might end up using a lot of hot water and end with us needing another shower."

"I'll take my chances on needing two showers."

Things in the shower did not get anywhere near as heated as things in the bedroom had been. It was nonetheless completely wonderful. There was something wonderful about the calm of it, the closeness. They had never been just about messing around, not really. But there was always a point in any relationship where things go from being casual, even if loving, to being your life. As they stood in the shower that night, holding one another, Lucas and Dillon both knew that they would be happy to be in this spot every moment, with the very person they were with now.

They returned to the bedroom once they had finished showering, they headed back into the bedroom. It was still early. Dillon put a movie in and Lucas spent most of the time watching Dillon watch the movie.

"You ok?" Dillon asked as he noticed Lucas was watching him.

"Fine just watching the movie." Lucas covered.

"Liar, you were looking at me." Dillon moved closer to Lucas. "Not that I'm objecting. I was fairly attention starved as a child."

"Glad I can help." Lucas wrapped his arms around Dillon. "You just always look so into any movie we watch. It's cute."

"Cute? Not horribly geeky." Dillon laughed.

"Nope." Lucas posed resting his chin on Dillon's shoulder. He had his legs wrapped around the younger man lavishing in the closeness. "Plus you have great taste in films."

"Can't go wrong with Casablanca."

"Too bad it ends so badly." Lucas said with a sigh.

"I don't know. Rick proves he loves Ilsa. He had to let her go." Dillon remarked. "Sometimes we have to do things to the people we love to protect them."

"That's very profound of you."

"Yeah, well, everything I learned I learned from movies."

Dillon's focus returned fully to the film and Lucas continued to hold him, content to have his attention on that. They both drifted off to sleep shortly after the film ended. Lucas was nearly shocked when he woke to light streaming in the windows. It was the first time since the accident he'd slept through the night.

"You're really not going to go see him?" Lucas said propping himself up on one arm. He watched Dillon getting dressed. He had to go to L&B and he wanted to check in on the family situation. Lucas was finished with the camp and had the day off from Kelly's.

"I'm really not. I'm going to call him and tell him now is just not a good time. If he really wants to see me, he can come back when things have calmed down."

"Yeah," Lucas knew Dillon was just rationalizing. "Listen, babe, don't do anything you might regret."

"I won't regret it." Dillon said putting an end to the conversation. Lucas wished that he was right, but he knew that he would regret it. "So what are you doing today?"

"Uh...Coffee with my mom this afternoon. I have to go over to PCU you withdrawal from housing and I might pick up books while I'm there."

"I should be back around dinner time. We'll come up with something. Only two more days of freedom."

"Don't remind me."

Dillon stopped at the bed kissing Lucas.

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

Lucas did love Dillon, enough to know he was making a mistake. When Dillon left for work, Lucas got up and dressed. He picked up his cellphone and for a brief second wondered if he were making a mistake. He didn't want to overstep his bounds with Dillon. They were boyfriends, lovers, but not quite partners. Even if they were, Dillon might still freak if he found out what he had planned. It was a chance he was just going to have to take.

"Hi, this is Lucas Jones. I'm looking for Paul Hornsby." He had called the MetroCourt front desk. He felt guilty already. "Y-yes, please connect me."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Notes on Chapter One; Feedback greatly appreciated!

* * *

"Paul Hornsby." Paul said answering the room phone. 

"Oh um...This is Lucas. Lucas Jones."

"Dillon's...um...boyfriend." Paul struggled a little with the words. Clearly, the son he had imagined wasn't a queer, Lucas thought a little bitterly. He had to give Paul the benefit of the doubt. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to call you about Dillon. He's kind of freaked out. I'm afraid he's going to make a huge mistake where you're concerned." Lucas explained. It seemed best to just get it out there. "He doesn't want to see you."

"I thought this might happen."

"Yeah, well, I think he should." Lucas said much to Paul's surprise. "Um...do you think I could meet you somewhere? I was hoping we could talk about Dillon."

"Yeah, how about the hotel restaurant at noon?" Paul suggested.

"I'll see you then."

Lucas was supposed to meet his mother for coffee at Sonny's coffee shop at ten. It was already 9:30 and he wasn't even dressed. This was going to be a fun day. He hoped Dillon didn't find out that he had called Paul or that he had gone to see him. He didn't want him to take it the wrong way. He dressed quickly and hopped in his car to meet his mother.

"Hi, sweetie." Bobbie said waving to her son from the table she had grabbed by the window.

"Hey, let me grab some coffee." He motioned to the counter heading for a much needed latte. He rejoined his mother at her table a few minutes later.

"Carly might stop by in a few minutes if that's ok." Bobbie said. Lucas took a deep breath. He hated the way Carly had wedged her way into the family. He could tolerate her fine most of the time, but he just wasn't in the mood.

"Whatever." Lucas said with a shrug.

"How's the new place?" Bobbie asked excitedly.

"Oh, great. Furniture showed up yesterday. We managed to get everything sorted out." Lucas filled her in. "I took Dillon to The Outback for dinner. He'd never been there. I think he enjoyed it."

"That's nice."

"As a side note, Mac knows about us. Theoretically everybody knows. Dillon told his mom so no more hiding."

"That's great. Good for him." Bobbie offered sipping her coffee. "I hope you'll be able to concentrate on school even with all of this going on."

"I promise my grades aren't going to slip, Mom. Everything's great. I'd say nothing could go wrong, but I know better." Lucas pointed out.

"Hi, Mama, Lucas." Carly said sweeping into the shop and taking a seat between mother and son. "Sorry it took me so long to get here. The boys weren't being too cooperative today. Leticia and I were fighting a losing battle, but they got out the door."

"I remember those days." Bobbie looked nostalgically at Lucas.

"Well, if you would like to relive them, Jax and I were planning to head to Manhattan Friday into Saturday, but Leticia is going to visit her parents. We could use a sitter."

"You know normally I'd be right there for you, Carly, but I'm working the overnight shift at the hospital." Bobbie told her.

"How about it, Lucas? I will make sure Jax tips you very well plus an hourly rate. What we normally pay Leticia, please."

"Um..."

"C'mon, I'll drop them off at the Brownstone. They'll play video games and then go to bed. We'll be back by Lunch time on Saturday." Of course Carly needed something why else would she have come to get coffee. "Please, Lucas, we could really use some alone time."

"Can't they stay with Sonny?"

"Sonny's not in a position to take them right now. I'm assuming its business because normally he wouldn't miss an extra weekend with them." Carly explained.

"The problem is that I don't live at the Brownstone."

"What?!" Carly looked at Bobbie. They clearly weren't fighting. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Bobbie assured her. "Lucas moved out."

"I'm living with Dillon across town. There's only one bedroom and I don't how they would feel about..."

"You let him move in with Dillon Quartermaine?" Carly said in disbelief no longer listening to Lucas.

"Carly, he's 22 years old. I don't let him do anything. Just like you don't ask my permission to do things." Bobbie said surprised. Lucas wasn't surprised. This was Carly after all even if Bobbie had blinders when it came to her.

"It's none of your business." Lucas interjected. "Who are you to be spouting relationship advice?"

"I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I know about the Quartermaines. It was one thing when you were having a fling with him, but a relationship? If they find out..."

"Dillon told his mother." Lucas cut her off.

"Carly, Lucas, both of you need to stop." Bobbie said playing referee. "Carly you told me yourself that you thought Lucas would be ok, that some of the Quartermaines would look at for him and Dillon. And Lucas, Carly does know a little of what she's talking about. She is just looking out for you."

"Oh right, looking out for me. Like when she broke you and Dad up and used me to do it." Lucas had waited years to get that out.

"That was a long time ago!" Bobbie chastised.

"Only to you." Lucas didn't know why he was so angry. Maybe he just needed to fight with someone. "She can do anything, not matter how deplorable and you will defend her. Even now!"

"You are both my children."

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Lucas pushed the chair back and walked out without so much as a backward glance.

"I'm sorry, honey. I don't think he meant it."

"Of course, he did." Carly said sadly. She couldn't believe this hadn't happened yet.

Lucas headed over to L&B wanting to see Dillon before he went to see Paul. He was still feeling guilty about that, but he still felt he had to do it for him. He tried to calm down before he went in, but it didn't really work that well. He was still obviously angry when he saw Dillon.

"Ok, whatever I did, I'm sorry." Dillon said with a smile. "What's going on?" He hugged Lucas rubbing his back a little.

"You didn't. Carly did."

"Ah...What did your evil half-sister do now?" Dillon released Lucas listening to the story while he went about his work.

"She thinks being involved with a Quartermaine is a bad idea especially a serious relationship." Lucas shook his head angrily. "She doesn't get that you aren't AJ."

"Yeah, well that's not exactly hard."

"You aren't like any of them. I don't mean that they are all bad." Lucas clarified. "But you just aren't like them. You aren't like anyone else I know."

"Taking that as a compliment." Dillon grinned.

"Good, it was meant as one." Lucas ran a hand through his hair. "I just...I thought the gay thing would always be the biggest issue. I never thought the whole Jones and Quartermaine thing would be the problem."

"This is Port Charles and compared to you I haven't lived here very long, but I do know that family feuds seem to be plentiful especially when the Quartermaines or Spencers or their extended family are involved." Dillon pointed out.

"I know, I know. I just..." Lucas took a deep breath trying to clear his head. "Why don't we get to be happy? Why don't we get to have people be happy for us?"

"Ok, here's the deal." Dillon stopped working and walked over to Lucas wrapping him in his arms once more. Lucas rested his forehead against Dillon's. "We both know I'm the movie guy. I've seen more romance movies than any guy, gay, straight or otherwise, should admit. None of them have happy middles. People get together and then there's issues, but you know what happens after that. Happily ever after. At least in the classics."Dillon kissed Lucas's lips. "And we are definitely a classic."

"Ok, I needed to hear that." Lucas admitted. He cleared his throat. "I have to go. I have a thing at noon."

"Yeah, I should get back to work." Dillon released Lucas from his embrace. "Will you do me a favor? Make up with Carly. I know you well enough to know that you're going to start feeling guilty about fighting with her. Don't take back what you said or anything, but tell her it's over."

"I didn't know you cared so much about Carly."

"I don't, but I know that you're mom will start telling you to clear things up and you'll feel bad. I'm tired of angry, sad Lucas. He shows up too often."

Lucas gave a half smile. "I'll try, but I should warn you it may involve us having to babysit."

"Well, Mobster's children love me, so we'll be good."

Lucas would handle Carly later. Maybe she would be at the Metro Court and he could kill two birds with one stone. He needed to head over there if he were going to be on time to see Paul. He thought about what Dillon said about his guilt complex. Even if Dillon never found out he went to see Paul, it could very well drive him nuts inside. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. He saw Paul sitting in a large chair in the Metro Court lobby. It took everything inside of Lucas not to turn and run. He wasn't big on confronting things.

"Hi, Mr. Hornsby." He said walking over to him and shaking his hand.

"Paul, please." Paul offered. "I was surprised to hear from you Lucas. I take it Dillon doesn't know you're here."

"No, he wanted me to let it all go." Lucas paused. "My dad died a few months ago and even though he had been around my whole life, there was a lot of stuff we never got around to talking about. I know how much I regret that and I know if Dillon doesn't see you, one day he'll have the same regrets. But there's something I need to know. Why did you come?"

"I never wanted to stay away. When Tracy took him away, it took a while to find them. I hadn't seen him in three years when she finally asked me to sign away my rights. He didn't know me. He didn't know who I was. I thought about contacting him a bunch of times, but I knew that he only thought of me as a name on a piece of paper. And Tracy..." Paul stopped for a moment thinking over his next words. "I did some horrible things to her. She was going to take me to court and tell them everything. I never would have gotten custody even with the kidnapping. In the end, I thought he'd be happier. I figured he'd hate me anyway. I assumed Tracy would tell him horrible things about me."

"He never believed them if she did." Lucas interjected. "When he got your letter, it was like he didn't know which way was up anymore. If you'd tried sooner."

"I know, and I can not apologize enough. I loved my son. I love him now."

"He thinks your other son replaced him." Lucas said firmly. He had never told anyone, but he had always felt like Michael when he was a baby had replaced him in his father's eyes. For a handful of months, Michael was all Tony could see and after things were never the same.

"No, never. I want Dillon to come visit. Frequently. I want him to know his brother. I never wanted him to feel that way."

Lucas mulled this over for a long moment.

"I believe you." He finally said. "Dillon, can be really stubborn. What day are you leaving again?"

"I extended my stay until Monday. I wanted to give Dillon some extra time." Paul explained.

"Ok, if I brought Dillon to have dinner here Sunday night, would you meet up in the lobby? He'll think you're already gone and come." Lucas felt like Carly and hated himself for it.

"If that's what it takes."

"I'm going to try to make him come of his own accord, but if not..." Lucas let the sentence trail off.

"Thank you, Lucas. You must love him very much." Paul admitted.

"I do."

They said goodbye and Lucas went over to the front desk to find out if Carly was there. He was directed to her office where he tapped on the open door.

"Lucas," Carly was legitimately surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I know. I'm sorry I blew up at you. The whole Dillon thing is just a bit of a tender subject still. I can take care of myself and I don't need your advice."

"Ok, I'm sorry. I was just looking out for you." Carly got up from her desk and walked over to hug him. Lucas accepted the gesture even if it was with a bit of reluctance.

"Well, I talked to Dillon and we both agreed that babysitting on Friday would be fine. If it's ok for you. We won't like do anything in front of the kids."

"I didn't think that you would." Carly laughed a little.

"I know that a lot of people don't like kids to know." Lucas shrugged.

"Michael knows that you are gay, but I think Morgan is a little young to understand. I explained it to him after we had dinner with you, Mom and Guy, but I don't know if it clicked. If he asks, tell him the truth." Carly offered.

"Ok, thanks. That's really mature of you." Lucas said it before he even realized it had come out. He laughed a little. "Really not trying to start a fight."

"It's ok. We're brother and sister. We have to fight sometimes." Carly rubbed his arm warmly. "I'll bring them by Friday at five. I'll even bring the pizza for all for of you."

"It's a plan."


End file.
